So we are sitting by the sea when he reaches in his bag with a giant smile and pulls out a cantaloupe.

(Or maybe 'twas a honey dew melon, though that is neither here nor there.)

I start cracking up because he's been talking about this very fruit for the past three days and now it looks like we are finally going to eat it.

But he puts it back in his bag and starts telling me about jingles he used to sing to attract market-goers at the fruit stand in Den Helder.

Lekker en niet zur,
Sappig en niet duur.





















































At the end of the night, he gives me a little nudge and says, coyly,

Guess what I still have?