October 18, 2009

My mom made the trip to the pumpkin patch with my cousins today. I did not.

It poured rain. There was mud.

My memories of going to the pumpkin patch when we were all kids are memories filled with mud and crying and someone getting hurt and someone being blamed and me just wanting to go home. 

I was much happier getting my pumpkin from the grocery store. 

But, with a drivers license and a car came a new freedom for me. I could go to the pumpkin patch by myself. On a day of my choosing. When it wasn't raining. 

So that's what I did for years. There was even one fantastic fall when I worked in a building directly across the street from my pumpkin patch of choice. What fun that was.

But that little piece of October World is gone now, replaced by an office building that was completely unnecessary. Another half-empty office building surrounded by half-empty office buildings.

I've tried a couple other pumpkin patches. They tend to be crowded and crazy. I thought I might have finally reached the point where I was just too old to go.

Last year, I grew my own. I didn't do too bad. A couple decent sized pumpkins and about a dozen of the minis. Next year, I'm going to take a shot at the white ones and the Cinderella pumpkins. Watch out!

A couple weeks ago, Bridget and I made a trip out to Bauman Farms in Gervais. They have renewed my love of the pumpkin patch. I wish I could live there.

"What are you going to do with the money you make when you finally sell your first book?"

"Oh, I'm going to buy a farm and grow pumpkins."

And there you have it. The dream. The October Dream.