When Pumpkins Are Melons

I am not a gardener. I do however, think gardens are a fantastic idea for a variety of reasons; so this year we planted a small plot. We planted tomatoes and Big Jim chiles (for Lee), marigolds (for me), sunflowers (for the girls), carrots and romaine (for David) and pumpkins (for us all). I had purchased all the seeds except the pumpkins. Those I had saved from the year previous and put in a pretty little jelly jar.

Summer is over, and nearly all that was left of the garden were our pumpkins, which stayed small and hadn’t turned orange yet. Pesky pumpkins! Yesterday I gave up and brought them all in. I caught a fruity whiff, and was disgusted that they had started to rot and never did turn orange. Maybe I had watered them too much. Maybe I planted them too late. They sat on the counter all afternoon.

Last night on a whim, I sliced one open and discovered that instead of pumpkins, they were melons.

Nothing spiritual here, but I’m sure if we think hard enough we can think of some parallels and principles.