January Melon

Winter cannot make up its mind. Yesterday's warm sunshine is replaced by dark chilly drizzle (July in Seattle). The kind of weather that demands... watermelon.


Ok. Watermelon wasn't the first fruit on my list, but DH took the only banana and the kiwis aren't ripe. Opened the freezer and hiding innocently under the edamame sat a quart of watermelon, cubed and frozen the day before we left for summer vacation. With fruit prices on the rise I couldn't bear to see it go to waste. Thanks to Putting Food By, it's been waiting for us until today, when I defrosted August rays in the middle of January gray.

"More!!" Cups banging on highchair trays. "More wah-ter-meh-yon!" Afterthought: "Peeze!" She is a polite despot. Everyone's happy, even after nap when I found two very wet sets of bedding. Oops. I forgot what watermelon does to urinary output.

I heard somewhere (a ziploc commercial) that Americans throw out $500 of food annually. Generally I'm skeptical of statistics used for pushing a product, but personal experience tells me that's probably spot on. At this point, I could rant against American consumerism and waste and feeding starving kids - all worthy stuff.

But I don't feel like it. I just want to say thank you Lord for freezers and watermelon and happy babies with juice dripping from dimpled chins on a day that promised wet pant cuffs and no outside playtime. A sweet reminder of summer and hot walks up to Dean and Don's.