Watermelon

No fruit conjures up more memories for me than watermelon. My home state of South Carolina is famous for growing watermelons in the summer. According to my mother, who suffered from severe morning sickness throughout her pregnancy with me, watermelon was her favorite food in the weeks leading up to my birth in late July.

When I was a young child, I loved hearing an adult say, "We're going to cut a watermelon." The fanfare surrounding such an announcement meant we were about to eat something sweet, delicious, and possibly cold, OUTSIDE. Cutting and eating a juicy watermelon inside was out of the question. As I got older, I was happy to help gather the supplies required for this event.

Outside meant a wooden picnic table, always under a nice shade tree. Next came a stack of newspapers which would cover the entire table. Then we'd gather enough table knives for each person, young and old alike, to have their personal knife. Of course we needed a "butcher knife" for cutting and dividing up the melon so that each person got a good-sized wedge. Finally there was a salt shaker. I didn't realize until I was an adult that I like it much better without salt.

I have no real childhood memory of eating watermelon inside. However, I did get out of bed late one night and found my mother eating watermelon at the kitchen table. I was probably about 4 or 5 years old. When I asked if I could have some, she replied that no, it was too late in the evening. Her reason for not sharing was her prediction that I would wet the bed if I ate watermelon this late.

More than twenty years later, a delicious watermelon made another deposit in my memory bank. Ed and I were living in Columbus, Mississippi. He was in pilot training and I was 20 weeks pregnant with our first child. The pregnancy was very high risk and I was on bed rest. It was early August of 1980 and we had one of the most delicious watermelons I had ever eaten. Although my morning sickness had essentially passed, I found that to be my favorite food, much like my mother 26 years earlier.

After eating a sizable portion of that melon, I started having abdominal cramps. I didn't want to think it was labor so I attributed my symptoms to gas from too much watermelon. In short order my symptoms worsened and I had to have an emergency C-section to save my life. At 20 weeks, there was no hope for the baby. As soon as I got home from the hospital, I asked Ed where the watermelon was. After a few days of hospital food, I was eager for some of that sweet, delicious melon. Ed responded that he had thrown it out. His words had a certain animosity so I asked him what was up. He told me that he blamed the watermelon for causing my early labor since I had mentioned such a possibility with the first cramps. To this day, watermelon is one of my favorite fruits but Ed is not fond of it at all. I once told him that he is the only person I know who holds a grudge against a fruit.

Of course as soon as I wrote that last sentence, I thought of the fruit shared by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden! Many of us have good reason to hold a grudge against that fruit even though the fruit itself was innocent, just like my Mississippi watermelon.

Here we are three decades later. Our daughters enjoy watermelon but our grandchildren are even more passionate about it than I am. Just this morning I was cutting a watermelon for them when all of these memories came flooding back. I could feel my late mother's presence in a very real and comforting way.

It's been years since our watermelon eating required a picnic table, newspapers, knives, and salt. I learned a long time ago that it's easier to remove the rind and cut the melon in pieces. These days we even eat it indoors as part of a meal! Most of our melons lately have been seedless, which sounds unnatural but they still have some seeds. This morning's melon was full of seeds. It's almost November and melons are no longer "in season." I found this one at a roadside stand here in Florida. It took me about 20 minutes to effectively cut it and remove most of the seeds.

Sure enough, my grandchildren and I thoroughly enjoyed it. And thanks to our chickens, nothing is wasted. They especially love to eat watermelon seeds!

We All Need Money

While the love of money (and its power) is the root of all evil, the fact remains that money runs the world. While I am no economist, I do understand some economic principles. From early childhood, people learn that everything they need requires money. And rich people have more power, freedom, and stuff than poor people. When asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" children usually answer something that sounds fun and pays a lot of money. My nine year-old grandson wants to develop and test games for Nintendo. Isn't it human nature to desire wealth?

Now enter the charitable mindset. This is fueled by a desire to help people we think of as poor. They may be sick, lonely, or hungry. They may live in areas of the world where opportunity is limited because of political and military unrest. These situations inspire missionaries and people who love their fellow man. While desiring to help is noble, desire alone is not effective. It requires some action. The first challenge is always funding.

The reality is that goods and services are needed by everyone and paid for by someone. Some people see the world as a feast and others see only famine. Diamonds, gold, and oil are precious commodities that simply had to be discovered and then put to use. Such is our world. Until someone invented a car, television, computer and cell phone, we had no idea that we couldn't live without them.

Everyday someone tugs at my heartstrings and asks for money. It's easy to feel overwhelmed by the need and feel inadequate to meet it. For example, I have a heart for orphans in India and Africa. I care about Kurdish refugees in the Middle East. I want to help America's Wounded Warriors. Medical missionaries make a huge difference in the lives of people all over the world and need my support. My spirit is fed daily by teachers in the media and they all ask for a donation. I have political interests that need money. And of course our local churches and synagogues do wonderful work and require ongoing support. When confronted with challenges like these, human beings become inspired to create solutions.

I believe with all my heart that creative inspiration comes from God. Because of this belief, which is fueled by faith, hope and love, I pray for solutions. Such was the case when my husband Ed joined with other business minded-minded people in a company that promotes online shopping. While their goal is to be profitable, most successful business people know that service to others is a higher calling than simply amassing large quantities of money for themselves. As a result this company offers a Partner program which invites other businesses and non-profit organizations to leverage their connections. As a result of this partnership, customers and supporters simply shop online at their favorite stores as usual. As a result they earn cash back on their purchases and a percentage of this revenue is channeled to the Partner organization.

Now that I have a creative solution for obtaining the funds to help worthy causes, my challenge is to effectively and simply communicate this solution to those who can benefit. And I believe that is all of us.

Ebola Raises Some Serious Questions

A couple of months ago I completed a continuing education course on Ebola. It was actually somewhat reassuring given these 2 claims: 1) It is transmitted through blood and body fluids 2) The patient is not contagious until they are symptomatic. So these sound simple enough, right? Right, if we're talking HIV or hepatitis which are not characterized by vomiting or hemorrhaging. Ebola presents with headache, vomiting, and fever. These are fairly common symptoms so what raises the flag that they can be life threatening? It's a simple matter of determining where the patient has been and who they've been exposed to over the past 3 weeks.

Therefore, if someone with Ebola vomits, bleeds, or urinates on a surface, how long does the virus remain alive? According to the CDC www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/hcp/environmental-infection-control-in-hospitals.html, the Ebola virus can remain viable on a solid surface "with concentrations falling slowly over several days." We in the medical profession are interested in "viral load." This is the amount of virus in a specified amount of blood. Some illnesses require a high viral load to be considered infectious. This does not seem to be the case with Ebola which requires a "low infectious dose" and those infected have the "potential of high virus titers in the blood." This means an infected person has lots of the viral organisms and it doesn't take a lot for someone to contract the disease.

There are reports that nurses are stating they feel their hospitals are unprepared to deal with Ebola. I can certainly understand this. And that is in medical settings with all of the PPE (personal protective equipment), disinfectant and sterilization policies, and trained staff for whom "universal precautions" are supposed to be routine. Think about the times you have been a patient in an emergency department. Was there carpet and upholstery? Were the staff and other patients outfitted in masks, gloves, gowns, and eye protection? Were you given these items? Were the people who accompanied you given these items?

Just the idea of flying on an airplane concerns me. So the airlines are screening people as to their possible contact with infected persons. They are questioning passengers about current symptoms such as fever and may even take the passengers' temperatures. Consider that you have an airline ticket you paid more than $1000 for and a trip you have been planning for weeks or months. Then you come down with a fever, headache, and possibly an upset stomach. Would you try to cover up that fact? I have heard that people are taking Ibuprofen to mask fever so they can board the plane. While these scenarios may be unlikely they are very possible.

The CDC article recommends that hospitals remove the draperies, carpets, and upholstery from rooms that house patients with Ebola. I have flown on many airplanes. They have upholstery and carpets. So do airports, medical waiting rooms, hotels, taxicabs, and rental cars. Supposedly the Ebola is considered to be enveloped, which makes it more susceptible to most disinfectants. That is good news but how confident are we that contaminated surfaces have been immediately disinfected?

It's been 38 years since I became a registered nurse. I have seen a lot of changes during that time including the discovery of HIV, and Hepatitis C, D, and E. Nosocomial (hospital acquired) infections such as antibiotic resistant staph infections have become more widespread and costly. At a time when we have more technology and pharmacology (drugs) than ever before, our risk of acquiring deadly diseases continues to be very real.

My knowledge of Ebola is not extensive and thank goodness I have no personal experience with it. However, common sense dictates that we should focus on good nutrition, good hygiene, and avoid exposure to sick people. I will not lay awake at night worrying about this but I will stay informed and alert. I pray that leaders in government and healthcare use wisdom, knowledge and courage to confront this disease. I also pray that healthcare workers ask questions and demand answers concerning Ebola now.