On the day of Juneteenth I relate a short but true and fascinating story I never knew. According to a colleague of mine born and raised in Texas, there was a time and place in America where certain folks regarded the watermelon as pig food. Not all of it mind you, but most of it.
We ate lunch today down at the local BBQ and the story was about my friend's father who grew up on a farm. Back when her father was a kid, on any old given sunny summer day, he'd go out into the patch and pick up a melon then bash it to the ground. Then he'd scoop out the juiciest part, right in the middle, then leave the rest on the ground. After a day or two of the broken melon sitting out in the sun, he'd have to scoop it up and go feed it to the hogs.
So one day as this farmer grew up and got married he was out on a picnic with his wife who proceded to eat the watermelon like most of us do, down to the rind. He was revolted. How could you eat that, he protested. That's pig food!
Now I can remember days of being so close to the struggle that I'd suck the marrow out of chicken bones. I can remember when we couldn't afford regular milk and had to drink powdered milk. Hell, I even remember eating mackerel instead of tuna. Now that I'm a big fat success I leave the lights on, and even throw away food on my plate. But I don't think I'll ever get so rich that I don't eat watermelon down to the rind.
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