I truly believed that if I swallowed a watermelon seed,
That I would grow a watermelon in my belly.
How strange it would be to grow a watermelon in your belly?
So, erring on the side of caution,
We would spit them out.
Or, use our white plastic spoons to carve them out of our watermelon slices.
You were legit, and doing it for real if you just ate your slice and collected the seeds in your cheek.
Only to spit them out when you were through with each bite.
I never participated in a watermelon seed spitting contest.
Although, I wish that I had.
But, I did see a bunch of women try to wrestle a Vaseline-smeared watermelon away from each other moving from one side of the Clougherty Pool to the other.
Intense.
Picnics and cookouts were places where watermelon seeds would be found aplenty.
Either on the used Dixie plates mixed in with Ken’s Steak House Italian dressing,
Or, floating in a variety of fluids in beverage containers overturned by gentle summer winds blowing off the Mystic River, passing the ghosts of Dewey Beach.
Watermelon seeds are always a part of the summer landscape.
And to date, I’ve never grown a watermelon in my belly.
Welcome to my effort. Yes, as a great procrastinator, it requires great effort to stay focused on something productive that matters to me. I’ll find any old excuse to traipse from project to project, and I rarely end up at the place I started. I find this maddening, and exhaustive. So it is with high hopes, and a greater grasp of self-awareness, that I embark upon staying the course so to speak.
I enjoy writing. Be it blogs, fiction, poetry, etc. I love the craft and the act of creation, the art in and of itself, for it’s own sake and end. I am happy to be able to do it.
Some stats:
Born: March 1974
Education:
St.Francis de Sales, Charlestown MA
Don Bosco Technical High School, Boston MA
University of Massachusetts at Lowell, Lowell MA
Bunker Hill Community College, Charlestown MA
DePaul University, Chicago, IL
North Virginia Community College, Arlington VA
Harvard Extension School, Cambridge MA
Place of residence: Somewhere in the land of metro Boston. It’s vaguely familiar and becoming home more and more by the day, but when you come from “The Town” all else fails by comparison.
Favorite Color: I’m partial to all forms of blue.
Favorite Author: c’mon! don’t expect me to answer that, there are too many.
I enjoy memories of playing 80’s Atari better than playing any advanced gaming system that exists today.
Some day:
Hope to be recognized for my paper clip collection. As well as my 27 rejected applications to Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailiey Clown college.
View all posts by Christopher Hickey