Melons..Gourds..What's the Use?
A few years ago, I use to live in Ellijay. Brian and I had a cozy mountain home situated back on ridge of a mountain. We had some neighbors, our properties were spread apart, so it was private yet still civilized. It was getting closer and closer to my due date with Isaac, and my mom would come visit once a week and bring me lot's of fruit. I really loved honey dew melons, they were my favorite, and I could eat a whole melon just for snack as I got closer to my due date. When I cleaned out the melons, I would take the seeds and toss them out by the front porch. There is a reason for this, I was so afraid to leave the front in case I saw a bear, so over time, these seeds begin to add up.
The rain had been so heavy this season, it rained everyday, night,morning, afternoon. I go outside one day to get some fresh air, it is really close now to Isaac's due date, and I notice a vine growing on the porch. At first , I thought it was a weed, but the closer I watched the vine from day after day, it looked more like a vine with little flowers. The flowers would fall away and these little green melons started to appear.
I had Isaac at the beginning of summer, we bring him home, it's just an amazing time in my life being a new mom. I spent alot of time inside with my newborn, but we would occasionally go out to the front porch and get some sunlight, he loved the warmth of the sun, so did I. I would continue to watch as the melons would get bigger and bigger. The vine literally was taking over the porch, and I insisted that Brian would not cut it down.
"Oh, Brian, imagine, fresh honey dews with out having to buy them., I would plead as he insisted we cut it down."
"It's taking over the house Melissa, can't I cut some back," he insisted.
"No, let's at least cut some first and see how ripe they are, go get a knife," I asked so sweetly.
He get's a knife, and I began to cut open this melon. To my surprise, it's so hard, the knife won't even penetrate. "Brian, I need your help, these melons are really hard," I said to him.
He comes out with a his gerber knife, Oh yeah, and begins cutting and sawing this melon open, realizing, this is no use.
I imply, "Perhaps they need some ripening. Let's not touch them for a couple days, see what happens."
By this time, these melons were well sized for eating, I just didn't understand why they weren't ripening to eat.
A few days, a few weeks, Brian gets more overwhelmed with this monstrous melon vine, it has to be cut or something. He is outside with a weed eater one morning, I hear him at the front porch because our bedroom window was right next to it. "Vroom, Vroom," the weedeater was wacking it up.
Those melons still hard as a rock, it just didn't make sense. I situate Isaac with a movie, a bouncy, and go outside. I take inventory of the damage to my melon vine.
"WHAT are you doing to my melon vine, why are you doing this!!" was all I could scream.
"They are not ripening, it's taking over the house Melissa, come here and sit down, I'll show you.", he says parched.
We pick them up, look at them, "wow, these melons are crazy, they just don't seem like normal melons." thinking to myself.
The melons were placed in a pile, one, two , three, four, and more and more pile together. Suddenly, one of our neighbors drives up slowly, seeing what were doing.
'Hey Brian and Melissa, How youins doin," she said.
I said, "Oh Hey Sherry, we are doing great. Just taking inventory of our melons. "
"Melons," she said hysterically, "thems ain't melons , thems are gourds."
"Huh," I said, "how can that be, I didn't plant gourd seeds, I planted melon seeds, or at least I thought I did.
Sherry said, "Thems are gourds and that's all I can tell you,", then she drove away.
Brian was a little amused, I was not amused. What in the world can you do with these gourds.
We took them and threw them in the backyard. A year later, as the spring came back around, I am walking out back and see the gourds. They are brown, but assuming they would of rotted, unbelievably not, they were hard as a rock just as you see anywhere. We had so many gourds, I got online and found some ideas for birdhouses so Brian and I made birdhouses out of the gourds. I really got into making gourd birdhouses the spring/summer. One lady bought a couple I put on ebay.
It was another unexpected blessing that the Lord had given me and utilized that time to do something creative while living up in the moutains.
The rain had been so heavy this season, it rained everyday, night,morning, afternoon. I go outside one day to get some fresh air, it is really close now to Isaac's due date, and I notice a vine growing on the porch. At first , I thought it was a weed, but the closer I watched the vine from day after day, it looked more like a vine with little flowers. The flowers would fall away and these little green melons started to appear.
I had Isaac at the beginning of summer, we bring him home, it's just an amazing time in my life being a new mom. I spent alot of time inside with my newborn, but we would occasionally go out to the front porch and get some sunlight, he loved the warmth of the sun, so did I. I would continue to watch as the melons would get bigger and bigger. The vine literally was taking over the porch, and I insisted that Brian would not cut it down.
"Oh, Brian, imagine, fresh honey dews with out having to buy them., I would plead as he insisted we cut it down."
"It's taking over the house Melissa, can't I cut some back," he insisted.
"No, let's at least cut some first and see how ripe they are, go get a knife," I asked so sweetly.
He get's a knife, and I began to cut open this melon. To my surprise, it's so hard, the knife won't even penetrate. "Brian, I need your help, these melons are really hard," I said to him.
He comes out with a his gerber knife, Oh yeah, and begins cutting and sawing this melon open, realizing, this is no use.
I imply, "Perhaps they need some ripening. Let's not touch them for a couple days, see what happens."
By this time, these melons were well sized for eating, I just didn't understand why they weren't ripening to eat.
A few days, a few weeks, Brian gets more overwhelmed with this monstrous melon vine, it has to be cut or something. He is outside with a weed eater one morning, I hear him at the front porch because our bedroom window was right next to it. "Vroom, Vroom," the weedeater was wacking it up.
Those melons still hard as a rock, it just didn't make sense. I situate Isaac with a movie, a bouncy, and go outside. I take inventory of the damage to my melon vine.
"WHAT are you doing to my melon vine, why are you doing this!!" was all I could scream.
"They are not ripening, it's taking over the house Melissa, come here and sit down, I'll show you.", he says parched.
We pick them up, look at them, "wow, these melons are crazy, they just don't seem like normal melons." thinking to myself.
The melons were placed in a pile, one, two , three, four, and more and more pile together. Suddenly, one of our neighbors drives up slowly, seeing what were doing.
'Hey Brian and Melissa, How youins doin," she said.
I said, "Oh Hey Sherry, we are doing great. Just taking inventory of our melons. "
"Melons," she said hysterically, "thems ain't melons , thems are gourds."
"Huh," I said, "how can that be, I didn't plant gourd seeds, I planted melon seeds, or at least I thought I did.
Sherry said, "Thems are gourds and that's all I can tell you,", then she drove away.
Brian was a little amused, I was not amused. What in the world can you do with these gourds.
We took them and threw them in the backyard. A year later, as the spring came back around, I am walking out back and see the gourds. They are brown, but assuming they would of rotted, unbelievably not, they were hard as a rock just as you see anywhere. We had so many gourds, I got online and found some ideas for birdhouses so Brian and I made birdhouses out of the gourds. I really got into making gourd birdhouses the spring/summer. One lady bought a couple I put on ebay.
It was another unexpected blessing that the Lord had given me and utilized that time to do something creative while living up in the moutains.
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