A Watermelon Summer

It’s almost July, and pretty much all of the farmer’s markets and roadside stands have been closed for some time. You see when most of the country is enjoying the bountiful harvest of the warm summer months, our area of the country shuts down due to the scorching arid desert heat of the summer. Yet, there is one thing that can still be seen for sale on the roadside – watermelon.

Watermelon and summer seem to go hand in hand no matter where in the continental U.S. you live. I can remember back when Munchkin was just little. We were living in an apartment in Virginia at the time. We had this little inflatable pool that we’d put out on our deck (we were either on the 2nd or 3rd story of the apartment building). We would sit her in the pool and give her the watermelon slices. She would sit there happily eating away, and she would end up with watermelon juice flowing down her face and arms. She was covered from head to toe, but it was all contained in that little pool. We’d wash her off before she came back inside.

Munchkin never lost her love of fresh, ripe watermelon. She always looks forward to when it’s in season as that is when they taste the best. She and Daddy can polish off an entire watermelon in one day when they want. lol!

Now, our two pups are getting in on the watermelon action. It turns out that they too love watermelon. As soon as I start slicing it up, they are right next to me – sitting – watching – waiting. Their tails begin to wag as I take the two ends of the watermelon and head outside. They know what’s coming. Excitement flows through their veins as the eagerly wait for me to put down the watermelon rounds. They can barely contain themselves as they wait for me to release them to eat. I give the command and Wyatt snatches his piece and finds a place to hide to eat in peace. Wiley, on the other hand, is happy to start his eating process right where he is. He starts off by slowly tasting the watermelon with long licks. Then he takes small, delicate bites. Finally, he digs right in and enjoys it.

Yep, it’s definitely a watermelon summer around our house….