Yes, you could "thump" it, and if it has a "dull" (whatever that means) sound it is ripe. Then you could turn it over, and if the underside is yellowish, it is also probably ripe. People in the "olden" days used to "plug" the melon, which involves taking a knife and cutting a small, deep hole in the fruit, pulling out the "plug," and taking a taste to see if it is ripe to your satisfaction.

Viktoria, I had but all forgotten about that raskallian ceremony of "plugging" a melon to check its ripeness. Ideally it was ripe so that the melon wasn't left to someone having to acquire a "used" or "tainted, carved up melon."

My fondness memories of growing up on a hobby farm of a little less than 10 acres includes going out to the tomato patch and picking a ripe one from the vine, polishing it on my jeans and then removing the salt shaker from my pocket, licking a spot and applying a bit of salt then taking a lucious bite from it. Oh for the days!

Alright, I would say raskallian is a good word, but I'm not familiar with it. I wonder if it is a word at all.

Rapscallion, I think.

If I remember correctly, if the melon was not ripe enough, the "plug" would be reinserted to make it look as if it had never happened--

quote:

Originally posted by Braling II:
Rapscallion, I think.

That's what I was thinking. And now, rapscallion is a good word!

Victorinox sells a 'fruit knife' for the purpose of fruit testing.

My, what a company! My favorite thing and I carry it with me at all times, is a credit card sized Victorinox item that has a small flat knife, just right for opening packaging, and a small scissors, tweezers, a pen, and screwdriver, and other useful items. I am on my second one, just can't be without it, works great for opening those shipments of books that come in hard to open taped up packages.

PATRASK: The quickest way to loose that Victorinox 'credit card' knife is to forget you have it in your wallet when going to the airport. You forgot to mention the real reason you want to open those boxes so quickly; it is so the wife does not find out you bought more books!

quote:

Originally posted by jkt:
The quickest way to loose that Victorinox 'credit card' knife...

Loose? I thought only Benny Hinn loosed people!

I know, I know...you've been packing two households and selling books til Late in the Evening.

I liked Benny Hill better.

I was gonna say the same thing!

Hinn started out as Orthodox until he converted to Pentecostalism. Probably saw more money in it.

I'm soon getting the Benny Hill boxed set from the Best Buy - $110. Not bad for every episode he ever did!

"Yes, it's The Benny Hill Show!"

quote:

Originally posted by jkt:
PATRASK: The quickest way to loose that Victorinox 'credit card' knife is to forget you have it in your wallet when going to the airport. You forgot to mention the real reason you want to open those boxes so quickly; it is so the wife does not find out you bought more books!

Right on, JKT, I never take in on a plane for that reason. And, yes, my wife and my budget has severely handicapped my acquisition of new books. I await the publishing of Masks and then I think I may be done, unless fate smiles favorably on my last investment, the company I just retired from last year. Poverty has its good and bad aspects, I have more time to read, but cannot afford to buy many new books. At my age that is not such a handicap, as I am starting to forget what I have read and each rereading seems like the first. Ah, the benefits of old age. Just when you think you can't stand it, something changes and you don't need to mind any longer.

No thumping, no plugging, no Victorinox-wielding rapscallions, and no Benny Hill reruns in this neck-o-the-Northern-California-woods. Only a watermelon and ten more days of simply waiting.

MTD

Doug and others--after checking with Dictionary.com I found that the word is correct with either the "p" or without it. Rascallion is a good word, too bad that I got hung up on a "k" instead of a "c."