夏も後半にさしかかりました。彦根の友人からスイカをいただきました。スイカは夏の代名詞のような果物です。スイカといっても大きいのや小さいの、中も赤いのや黄色いの、種あり、種なし、いろいろですが、やはり中が赤くて黒い種があるものが一般的なスイカのイメージです。実は、今回いただいたのは２度目で、前回は赤い果肉で黒い種のずばりスイカそのものでした。今回も同じです。店頭でまるごとのスイカは高価だし大人数でもない限り手が出ませんが、いただいたスイカに包丁を入れ、ザクッと半分に切って、小分けしていく醍醐味はそれだけで夏らしく何とも贅沢です。このスイカは５キロで、お客様にもお出しするためにしばらく棚の上に置いて眺めています。それにしても、こんな立派な、ドッシリしたスイカが畑にゴロゴロなるなんて考えても不思議で愉快です。ブルーベリー、トマト、ぶどう、桃、グレープフルーツ、バナナ、形も色も様々な野菜や果物が私達の周りに登場し、味も色も楽しませてくれることに今更ながら感動します。秋になればアメリカは巨大なカボチャが出てきますが、私は日本のスイカに王冠をのせたい気分です。It is already the latter half of the summer. The other day, I received a watermelon from my friend in Hikone. Watermelon is a representative fruit of the summer. There are various kinds of watermelon such as ones with red or yellow pulp, those with or without seeds, etc., but after all the one with the red pulp and black seeds is a typical image of a watermelon. Actually this is the second watermelon I have received as a gift this summer and the previous one was with red pulp and black seeds inside. I am sure this will be the same kind. At a shop, I just hesitate to buy a whole watermelon since it is very expensive and too much. It is a luxurious summer feeling to cut the whole one in half which makes me very excited. I scaled it and it was five kilograms (11.02 lb). I decided to wait until I could share this watermelon with the guests.I feel very strange and funny to imagine the watermelon field where these big and heavy watermelons are laying here and there. We can see many kinds of fruits such as blueberries, tomatoes, grapes, peaches, grapefruits, bananas, etc. around us and there are different shapes and colors which make us surprised and joyful. What wonderful natural creatures! In the US, huge pumpkins will appear in the fall, but I would like to put a crown on this watermelon in Japan.
