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Thursday, August 2, 2012

MELLIFLUOUS

"The melon on the left is a MUSK MELON; the melon on the right is a CANTALOUPE, because that's what Grandpa told us!"


My brother Duke brought two beautiful melons from his garden for us to savor. He said they were the best cantaloupes he'd ever raised, but I think he said that last year also! When I saw them I said, "Wow, look at those musk melons!" Les asked, "What's the difference between cantaloupe and musk melon?" Sources I checked state that cantaloupes are not grown in the United States and that all melons we consider as cantaloupes are just different varieties of musk melon. My grandfather always called them MUSK MELONS (except, he actually said MUSH MELONS). In the accompanying picture, I am showing what I believe is the difference between them because that's what Grandpa said!



"READY TO RELISH!"





I said, "Oh, they're MELLIFLUOUS!" The word means: "sweet, flowing with honey; having a smooth, rich flow". The word is usually used to describe dulcet tones in singing and speaking, but I had to use it to describe the melons. The first one we tried is definitely "sweet and flowing with honey"!

After relishing the melon, I called Duke and told him, "Grandpa would be proud of you."

I am always frustrated when picking out melons because I can never tell if they are ripe. In stores, I actually pretend that I know what I'm doing. My brother Norman says to sniff the vine end of the melon and if it's "melony", then it's probably ready. Next, press the other end of the melon with your thumb and if it's soft (like a baby's soft spot), then it's definitely ripe!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hello Sue, My grandpa raised melon also. He said the same extact same thing that your grandpa said. I agree with Norman's method, I do this and people look so strange at me. I just giggle under my breathe. Thanks for sharing.