Friday, October 15, 2010

October 16, 2010

I'm preparing for the annual family pumpkin patch outing.

I'm hoping it will be better than the ones of my childhood. Those memories are filed with mud and tears and the overwhelming desire to go home.

For years, I didn't go. I boycotted the entire affair. I eventually found myself in possession of a drivers license so I went on my own (usually to the closest grocery store) to get my pumpkin. Then I found my way to the closest pumpkin patch, choosing a nice, dry day.

Recently, I've found better and better pumpkin patches. I like the one out at Kruger Farms on Sauvie's Island. I love Bauman's in Gervais, near Mt. Angel.

This year's will be a new one for me, some place out in Sandy. I won't post the name until after we get back just in case it's awful. I understand they have some sort of hay maze and a pumpkin slingshot so it can't be all bad. If all else fails, I always have FarmVille.

Is there anything more symbolic of October than the pumpkin?I think not.

It's one of the last things still on the vine during the harvest. I grew a few a couple years back. I might grow more next year. Eventually, I'd like to fill my back yard with pumpkin vines and fig trees. And maybe a hazelnut tree. Still thinking about that one.

It's also a thing of fairy tales and wonder. Would Cinderella ever have made it to the ball without her pumpkin carriage?

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