I consider this my most dangerous blog to date. I know that it will border on sacrilege but feel that I must do it.
I purchased a Pecos cantaloupe yesterday and was able to hold off peeling it until today. I was in the process of finishing another melon of a different grower and did not want to cross contaminate my Pecos melon. I was greatly disappointed at the first bite of the Pecos melon. It was either shipped a bit green or had hardened from direct contact with the sun. I do not know which. The melons I have been buying are called “Sugar Kissed” and are every bit as sweet as I remember a Pecos melon of yore to be. Maybe my expectations were too high. Maybe the boys in Coyanosa have been relying on the fact that as we get older our taste buds diminish to some degree. I am stunned to say the least.
I know, I know, the very mention of the Pecos melon not being what it once was will send tremors thru my list of friends. I am sure that one of the descendents of Dr. Camp is at this very moment going thru the records from the hospital that have been stored all these years, looking to erase my name from birth records. For that I am sorry but I have a copy of my birth certificate and can prove I was born in Pecos. I know I have sinned but just couldnt help myself. This melon just wasnt one of the “ONES”. I know a silver medal is not as good as a gold but it is better than a bronze (Presidio melon).
I hope that I may have saved one of my readers from a huge dose of disappointment and hope that time will take care of my current fall from grace.
Chuy the cantaloupe taster
ghomercowan 
Gary, I feel your pain as I, too, have sinned. Last weekend a local farmer’s market I frequent advertised Pecos cantaloupe. Nearly ran a red light attempting to get there before all were gone. When I walked in and saw the crates piled with what looked like cantaloupes I thought “another scam”. They had a sticker on them attesting to “Pecos Cantaloupe”. However no indication of being grown in Cayanosa. As you know, one should smell the stem end and be able to smell the cantaloupe aroma. As I was testing without the desired result a woman was selecting melons too. She raved about the Pecos cantaloupe she had purchased here the day before and just had to come back for more. I questioned her expertise with Pecos cantaloups and found it to be lacking. Despite my doubts, her exuberance over these melons caused me to purchase one – $5!!! I let the melon “set” for the required day. (the entire house reeked of melon odor). It’s was OK, pretty sweet. As you said, perhaps our memories and taste buds have faltered a bit of late.
I shall not give up. If I see Pecos Cantaloupes advertised, I’m there to check them out. However I will not be swayed by less experienced PC eaters!
Hope all are well with you and fam. We’re hanging in considering the heat! As I walked from the parking lot to a restaurant for lunch I was moaning because it was so hot, a mere 100 deg. Back in “the day” we would have considered this a cool spell! Still a “wonder” what age can do to us.
L S >
Dear Gary – I found Pecos Fresh melons with all the right designations at Central Market and thought they didn’t look quite right – the netting on the outside wasn’t the deep, heavy-lined kind I remember from when Sallie and I sold them ($1 a sack) on the side of the road on the El Paso highway, by the old cantaloupe shed. I also noticed that all of the melons didn’t have the clean “innie” belly button stem cut, so realized that they had probably been cut before being ripe enough. These were $3.99 each and I did buy one, but had the same “not right” verdict as you. I fed it to my granddaughters, who didn’t know the difference.
Your legitimacy is still beyond suspicion.
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