Sweet, sweet cantaloupe. I remember you when you were just a seedling...
Oh, wait.
But then, I was so proud of you when you started growing for real.
One day, I was on a trip and when I came home and you had grown over the edge of the garden and were covered with little yellow flowers!
And before I knew it, there were a couple little fuzzballs growing. One day I was fussing with the vine and one of the fuzzballs fell off. I thought it was no big deal because there were others. Little did I know that only one fuzzball would survive.
That fuzzball (you) amazed and confused me. I checked, double checked and triple checked that I had planted CANTALOUPE in that square. Everything I had ever known was telling me that my little fuzzball had turned into a watermelon instead of a cantaloupe! I was sad yet excited for some watermelon. It reminded me of parents whose children who get sexual reassignment surgery that I had seen on TV. They're always like, "I loved my son, John, but now I love my daughter Joan." I loved my baby cantaloupe, but now I love my watermelon!
But then my Joan went back to John! And, I held you in my hand to show off your new webbing.
For weeks, I checked on you and flipped you so you would ripen evenly. I wondered on a daily basis how I would know when it was time to pick you.
Then one day, I was watering the garden and I noticed a sweet (almost rotten?) fruit smell. That's when I knew it was time. I gave you a little squeeze and your tough skin gave a little. I pulled you off the vine instantly and rushed you inside. You had been laying out in the sun all day and I think I should've let you cool before cutting into you but I couldn't wait. This day had taken so long to arrive. As I sliced into you, I got kind of grossed out because you were warm like a live animal. I was thrilled to see that you were completely ripe all the way to the skin except for one little part.
You were so juicy and your sweet smell filled the kitchen. Laika was going crazy for a nibble as I sliced you up.
I chunked you up and ended up eating it all in just two sittings. I brought a big bowl to work to share with people and brag that I had grown you from a tiny little seed but guess what, I didn't share a single bite.
The one and only piece that I shared was the very last piece, which I gave to Laika for sitting like a good girl while I devoured half of a cantaloupe. A delicious cantaloupe that I grew from seeds.
