Stories Collected While Living in France

French la Vie

Breakfast with Melon

Breakfast

Photos and text by: Corey Amaro.


Melon sliced on the breakfast counter. It set the stage. Ripe and ready. Generous and lush.

Do you ever have those moments where out of the blue something reminds you of something and instantly transports you to another destination in time?

It happened to me yesterday when I cut the melon in half.

 
Halve-melon

 I wasn't transported to a memory, but more to a feeling. A feeling of youth… young, vibrant, full of dreams with feet strong and carefree to take me. A sense of childhood… standing at the kitchen counter watching my mom slicing a melon for us kids to eat.

Ripe and ready.  Full of seeds. Juicy…life.

Breakfast-counter

And while the feeling took me away I smiled.

Daydreams in the morning. Lucky little things aren't they.

Moments to ourselves amongst the reality of the day.

Like invisible butterfly wings fluttering about us, taking us in and out of consciousness without our awareness. Though interiorly we stop, listen with a different ear, see with a different eye, feel with a different heart… then wonder around far from the moment.

Melon-seeds
Seeds-melon-cut-in-half 

                                                                           

Delicious life.

Giving of itself.

A
thousand seeds, ready to plant.

Bite in.

Ripe-melon

The breakfast melon on the counter was full of unseen surprises.

Comments

25 responses to “Breakfast with Melon”

  1. Marie-Noëlle

    When I cut my melon today, I’ll try HARD to find such inspiration in its juice and seeds …
    As we say in France “C’est pas gagné !”… I’ll think a lot of you !!!

    Reply
  2. Gina

    I love melon for breakfast. I think of summer. The smell. The sticky juice. The sunshine! I hope you are enjoying your summer mornings.

    Reply
  3. laurie

    Corey, I love your description of daydreams in the morning. I have had similar experiences when making morning tea for myself. On my most difficult days, it was the simple tea-making that gave my day a peaceful place to begin and I would carry that with me all day.
    The place where you are now is as ripe as the melon and full of seeds too. I am enjoying your insights as well as am grateful for your perspectives. I know you will hit your stride and show us all how it’s done.
    Thanks for FH blog share… loving the male experience and a great exercise for my very rusty French too.

    Reply
  4. Teri

    that first photo is such a lovely still life. Just beautiful!!

    Reply
  5. Penny

    Oh, I know those feelings and surprises just as well. The best thing is that I hear our daughters now expressing them, which makes this all the richer.

    Reply
  6. Star

    Gorgeous photos and a delicious breakfast.

    Reply
  7. Kathie B.

    I remember all the sweet vine-ripened melons (cantaloupe, honeydew, casaba, watermelon and others) that my family ate in Northern California when I was a child.
    My favorite melon memory comes from when we’d visit my maternal (non-Portuguese-descendant) grandparents who lived on a subsistence farm in the Coast Redwoods region. For a couple years they had an orange-tiger cat named Mike, who was a most sociable creature. I don’t know whether you’re aware of this or not, but some cats really like melon (especially cantaloupe).
    Well, Mike was one such kitty, so on summer evenings when we’d have melon for dessert, we’d lay out all our leftover rinds on the back porch of my grandparents’ house at dusk for Mike to snack on, then watch him eat from a distance.
    But soon something curious started occurring: after we’d laid out the rinds, Mike would eat his share, then go off into the woods. Turned out he’d made friends with the local skunks — so he’d locate, then escort his li’l black-&-white furry buddies back to the porch so they could partake of melon rind too! Like a perfect host, Mike would stand back a bit so the skunks could have their “space” while they snacked. It was just the cutest darn thing you ever saw!
    Naturally we humans stayed at a considerable distance, so as not to spook the skunks, but in fact they never sprayed my grandparents’ porch. My one regret is that we never got any photos of this, because by the time the skunks would arrive it was nearly dark, so we’d have need to use a flash, which would’ve spooked them and probably have made them spray.
    Corey (and anyone else): Did you ever feed melon to your cats? Did you have skunks come around too?

    Reply
  8. Kathie B.

    “have needed” — ack!

    Reply
  9. Everton Terrace

    This often happens to me from a scent. I was walking through the market yesterday and I don’t know what it was but I smelled something and I was transported. Like you, it was more than a feeling than a memory. My childhood was right there with me. I too feel lucky, not only that I can go back but that the memories are such happy ones, lucky indeed.

    Reply
  10. le petit cabinet de curiosites

    Your first picture has transported me in an art life. It reminds me an XVIII th century dutch still life. The composition is perfect. Love the light and the choice of what you put in it.
    Thank you for this beautiful vignette. Love your comment about how it began ( our friendship , my blog, our souvenirs together …)

    Reply
  11. Merisi

    Cantaloupes always remind me of Rome, of a restaurant in the Frascati hills, a summer evening, lush ripe cantaloupe slices and figs still warm from the tree with thinly sliced prosciutto. I remember the taste and the fragrance.

    Reply
  12. Cheryl ~ Casual Cottage Chic

    Oh, getting too “deep” for me in the morning 😉

    Reply
  13. Marilyn

    I have the same feelings when cutting into watermelon. I cut one yesterday and remembered a time long ago. My uncle would order a truck load of watermelons and we could pick them warm right off the truck. They almost cracked open on their own they were so full of juicy sweetness. We could eat all we wanted. The beautiful red juiciness was all over our arms and faces. Oh what memories. Your photos are beautiful. There is something so beautiful in seeing fruits and vegetables in photos.

    Reply
  14. Bridget

    I feel the same about cantaloupes. Every time I’m transported back to my summer vacations at my Grams (in the foothills of California) as a young girl. My Gram would slice it up and put it on the table for all meals. Wish I could turn back time for this reason alone and eat some cantaloupe with my Gram.

    Reply
  15. Sharon, Morrison Mercantile

    Well said lovely Corey…

    Reply
  16. Shelley@thiswhiteshed.blogspot.com

    Great photo!!! The colours and contrasts so natural and real. Happy daydreams Corey!

    Reply
  17. david

    I agree with “Le petit cabinet de curiosités”! The first picture is really amazing… a piece of art!

    Reply
  18. Lorelei Lane

    Gorgeous photos and gorgeous daydreams…

    Reply
  19. Lia deKoster

    again I have been away,
    tears of grief as I
    have read your journey….
    our baabies…
    hold on to the ordinary joy
    surrounding
    you and yann.
    I ache
    as
    you
    are…….
    it is
    the scent I
    miss.
    the touch.
    the cuddle.
    But the joy when I
    know
    I
    will touch and
    be surrounded with the aroma of
    my lovelies.
    I feel
    not pleased that Yann
    seperates
    from you
    …at this time.
    but..it is a shared time
    and he
    is flirting with his emotions….
    alas………..supporting.
    just
    CRY
    Corey…
    loud,
    messy,
    hole heartedly…
    then….wipe them away…smile and
    do a little girly thing just for you…
    chat with friends, wonder the streets, explore a differences, chat with strangers, make them smile…ones you are able to touch…leave the computer and bring to your senses new and evolved joys that build on you.
    ohhh that sounded a little naughty,
    i didn’t mean it to be…just cry and start again.
    it doesn’t get easier…it just gets….
    arohanui…….your friend

    Reply
  20. Mindi

    Sometimes you take a little memory or feeling for granted. I loved how you described it so vividly and you really made me appreciate some of lifes little melons! So sorry I havnt been posting as much I have been busy hitting estate sales wishing they were the brocante and selling at a little antique store. So much fun!!

    Reply
  21. Julie Ann Evins

    So often those moments. Memories triggered by smell, sound, taste, Joyous or painful it is what makes us human I suppose, Jx

    Reply
  22. Helen, wishing I was in Paris

    Corey, what an artist you are. Sometimes you take my breath away with your words and photos, just as you did with this post. Merci, merci.

    Reply
  23. Sherry

    Corey, you are so poetic-you remind me of me making soup and seeing grandma the whole time.I can just taste that melon! Enjoy
    Sherry

    Reply
  24. Linda H

    Thanks for sharing your sense memory with us. And for the others who have also shared! We need to be aware of these moments more than we are. Your words and pictures are such an inspiration!

    Reply
  25. Lisa

    Bon jour Corey. Just read your ‘breakfast with melon’. Yes, this is the way my home makes me feel when I get up in the morning and look around at my beautiful surroundings. It is a bit of ‘peace’ before I meet the day, the store and whatever challenges arise from daily life. Surprising how those ‘little things’ can offer an oasis and help us to begin the day in a relaxed and thoughtful place. Merci for the reminder.
    Abientot, Lisa

    Reply

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