The wild watermelon, traced back to Sudan, is a white-fleshed, somewhat bitter fruit. Tutankhamun was buried with wild watermelon seeds, savory snacks for the afterlife, even though they may lead to gastrointestinal discomfort. In my family, we just spit the seeds out, but sometimes that gets competitive. At every reunion someone challenges the reigning seed-spitting champion to a showdown. And quite often some gap-toothed teenager, not particularly skilled at horseshoes or darts, sets a new world record. However, as far as I know, we’ve never buried anyone with watermelon seeds or even served them as snacks after a funeral. Of course, none of us has ever traveled the world as a museum piece either.

Bio: Bob Lucky