utenzi

That watermelon has been sitting out in the heat for 5 days now. Between the dehydration and the insects feeding on it, the watermelon is looking a wee bit worse for wear. I took this picture around 8am this morning, before going into work. It was already 85f out and I gave my tomato plants some water since I didn't want them to end up looking like this watermelon. We're supposed to get some afternoon rainstorms for the next few days but I'll believe it when I see it. It's been over a week since there's been any rain at my house and the grass in the lawn breaks when you step on it. I've signed up for a kayaking tour on the Dan River this Saturday. It's supposed to take around 3 hours so it'll be from 10am to 1pm, more or less. I hope it doesn't rain then!

In my title I'm referring to the watermelon below but it could, I guess, refer to me also. I went to see my doctor today. Scheduled appointment, nothing serious. And she told me to lose some more weight! I'd already dropped 45 pounds to get to 183 which is the upper threshold for a normal BMI at my height. But apparently she wants me to be near the middle of the weight range for "normal." Jeeze. Pretty soon I'll look all dessicated like that poor watermelon over there. At least the bugs like it now.

In the September 2008 issue of Saveur , a magazine dedicated to authentic cuisines where ever they can be found, there's an article that has a very local flavor, if you will, to me. The title is Why We Love Watermelon and thus it'll come as no surprise that the writer, Dana Bowen, chose to explore the topic of Watermelon. Normally I'd skip over a topic as sweet as this because I have a nasty allergy to many fruits. This is known as Oral allergy syndrome (OAS) and while it's not usually dangerous, as are some food allergies, it is quite annoying. OAS is apparently the body misinterpreting fruit as pollen and it causes your mouth to burn and itch---and I can assure you, it itches A LOT! But to get back to my point---don't you hate it when a writer is constantly going off on tangents? oops---this article is based right here in the RTP area of North Carolina. Bowen starts off the article by mentioning the State Farmers Market in Raleigh, NC and quickly establishes t...