[Magdalen] Coon/Cooning.

[cantor03 at aol.com]

We had some delicious cantaloupe yesterday, and it brought

back memories of my native village in NW Wisconsin.  There, in
sandy fields in the Pine Barrens, there was a seed farm that
specialized in cantaloupe.  The seed farm was owned by the
Daniels family, pillars of the local Methodist congregation.
 
Daniels' melons were delicious, but they had to be consumed
on the property under their supervision.  The precious seeds
had to be preserved.
 
I used the expression, "cooning melons," and my mate
looked shocked.  According to my dictionaries, this expression,
meaning "stealing" melons [anything] is a southern USA
usage, but the expression was commonly employed to
describe the coming of age ritual of local high school boys
who were the bane of the Daniel's existence during the
July/August season, and attempted to steal melons at night.
 
Old Man Daniels literally slept in the fields holding his
handy shotgun in lap during those months.
 
Anyway, this usage of coon/cooning is not pejorative
in my usage, anyway.
 
Here in Pennsylania USA, "Coon/s" properly refers to
raccoons that are plentiful here in the mountains.  Hunting
them is "cooning."
 
 
David S.