We Were Spaniards In North Central West Virginia--Tomatoes

[Ron Gonzalez]

Spelter was a wonderful town. Most of the homes were neat, and most had their backyards plowed up, with neat rows of vegetables. To hear the Spanish men tell their secrets to growing the first tomato, I think it was more who could tell the bigger whopper, rather than who got the first tomato. Case in point, my uncle (Caesar Vasquez) lived in Clarksburg and had a garden. He told a Spanish friend who lived in Spelter "I will have ripe tomatoes before you do." "That's a bet," the friend replied. The first part of June my uncle visited a local market to find some ripe tomatoes for his garden. After securing three tomatoes, he tied them with care to the tomato plants. He went to Spelter to tell his friend "I have three ripe tomatoes." "I do not believe you. I want to see them." So they went to Clarksburg to see three tomatoes. When they arrived my uncle drove slowly past the three tomatoes not stopping, just passing by. "See I do have ripe tomatoes." His friend said, "Yes, you do." The wager was one dollar, so my uncle told his friend, "Take that dollar and get a good fertilizer." A very true story.

[Art]

Man, Ron, your uncle was something else! You must have gotten some of your sense of humor from him.

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¡Vaya, Ron, tu tio era otra cosa [un caso o un tipo]! Debiste de haber recibido algo de tu sentido del humor de él.