Everyone who grew up by the Mediterranean Sea knows that a lazy day on the beach requires a certain level of planning. You should pack everything you’ll need, or may need, and get there early to secure a good spot. But the first thing you need to do when you get there – even before you spread out your blankets and put that sunscreen on – is to drop a watermelon in the sea, so that, by noon, when it’s so hot your skin feels as if it’s about to blister, it is ready for you, all cool and sweet. It’s just about the only thing capable of quenching your thirst and your hunger, while also cooling you down and giving you the sugar you need.
The other important bit about the watermelon – the part that separates wisdom from wishful thinking – is that you also need to tie a piece of string around it, complete with an empty plastic bottle at the other end, so that it bobs above the waves and marks the spot. This is something you learn the hard way – or at least we did. There is a very particular kind of disappointment that comes from standing waist-deep in the sea, staring into the blue, convinced that a whole watermelon cannot simply disappear. We searched. We dived. We accused passing currents. We briefly entertained the idea that another family had found it and were, at that very moment, enjoying our perfectly chilled watermelon. Then again, perhaps it is still out there somewhere, floating towards Sicily …
