watermelon summer

A bowling ball size watermelon sits on the dining room table. Evergreen skin, taffy pink flesh, and coffee bean seeds, this fruit bleeds when cut. It is both a large centerpiece and an homage to summer.

A watermelon summer. During the last week of preschool, I sat on the steps of La Petite Academy spitting seeds with six of my classmates. It was my first official competition. I remember thinking that spitting seeds was not something I was particularly good at nor was it a prize-worthy event.

Then a strange turn of events happened, I spit the winning seed. I took home my prize, a dancing doll music box. Her cotton arms moved in a mechanical dance each time she was wound at the base. She wore a floor-length floral gown with pink and orange flowers with pink strapped heels. Her silky brown hair was styled in a 1960s bouffant. Each night before bed, I watched her dance on my headboard before falling asleep. It was my one and only watermelon summer. Until today.

Watermelon Agua Fresca

(printable recipe)

Serve in glasses over ice and garnish with lime and mint.