0012: WATERMELONS AND BEING OUTSIDE
Watermelons And Being Outside
225 words, 1 minute
How do you know when a watermelon is ripe? Thump it? Smell it? Shake it around like a magic eight ball and wait for the answer? It can be mysterious, but there is an easy trick to picking the best watermelon.
Time outside is good for watermelons and people. Out in the sun, in the open air, we stretch and grow. Our experiences shape us and give us our unique character. The bumps, bruises, and time in the sun interacting with the world make us who we are.
The secret to picking a good watermelon is to search for an interesting watermelon. Uniformity is not very tasty. Instead, look for a watermelon with a large, flat yellow spot, not white or light yellow, yellow – the darker, the better.
Watermelons do not ripen off the vine. Once they are taken inside and packed tightly with other watermelons, they are stuck. The sweetest watermelons, the watermelons that had the longest time to sit in the sun and grow free, have a solid yellow spot where they were in contact with the ground. A lighter ground spot means the watermelon is less ripe. More time outside = more flavor.
Over the next few weeks, we hope that you can get outside and enjoy some sweet summer adventures. Let us know if you have any luck finding other good melons.
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ADVENTURE ALMANAC: EPISODE 11
Matthew Henson – Towards The North Pole
Robert Peary hired Matthew Henson as his servant for a trip to Nicaragua. In 1891, Henson went on his first Arctic adventure with Peary. Henson spent the next 18 years experimenting with polar expeditions to reach the North Pole. As a Black American, he faced constant racism, but the other explorers couldn’t ignore his skills and the strength of his character. He was the best person to lead the final push to the North Pole, but did he reach it?
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LINKS FOR ADVENTURE NERDS
TO LOVE THE RAINFOREST
When Dr. Julian Diller was 17, her plane crashed in the Amazon, and she survived. She then founded the oldest biological research station in Peru. Franz Lidz expertly told her wild story of adventure and fight to preserve the Amazon.
Read More (NYT $?) 10+ minutes
A SELF-SUPPORTED TOUR DE FRANCE
My favorite way to experience the Tour de France was following Lachlan Morton’s Alt Tour, a self-supported bikepacking adventure following the Tour’s route. Peddling in Birkenstocks and stealth camping while covering over 5,000km in just 18 days blew my mind.
Read More (NPR) <5 minutes
OFF-ROADING ASTRONAUTS
The first time humans visited the moon was an adventure, and so were the other five missions. Do you recognize any typical earth-bound moments of adventure in this article about astronauts exploring the moon using the lunar roving vehicle?
Read More (Outside) 10+ minutes
FOLLOW THE WATER
River Runner is a fun interactive website about watersheds. Drop a raindrop anywhere in the US and watch where it goes. What happens when a bear pees in the woods? Where does it go?
Play (River Runner) 1+ minutes
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