In Praise of the Pumpkin

What is it about the pumpkin that calls to me? The minute those bright fleshy fruits begin to show up in the grocery store and the garden shops, I’m more than ready for them. I’m pulling out all my pumpkin recipes and checking my cupboards to replenish my supply of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Yes, fall is in the air and pumpkins are a huge fetish of my fall!

I’m always delighted to work the “pumpkin patch” at church, knowing I’ll have plenty of time to walk through that massive front lawn of assorted shapes and even colors. Pumpkin growers have really turned on the creativity in recent years offering up not only the gorgeous orange spheres, but bumpy ones, veined ones, green ones, white ones, tall and skinny ones, and oh so many combinations of the above. Knowing that my pumpkin purchases from church send money to good causes, I come home pumpkin poor. Pumpkins find their way into almost every room in the house, by the back door, and decorating the back terrace.

No longer do we carve our pumpkins at Halloween, hoping to make these beautiful delights last unit Thanksgiving. Our grandchildren, however, treat us to photos of their spectacular creative Jack-O-Lanterns. A favorite family memory is of the 18 inch “perfect” pumpkin that voluntarily grew in our back yard, just beneath the patio where we most likely carved the last year’s Jack-O-Lantern. Since that time I have tried for several years to grow pumpkins, but somehow my attempts have been futile. Heeding the old timer’s advice and sowing the seeds about the time of July 4th, planting in what I assumed the perfect spot -- none of that has produced another pumpkin.

But alas, the frost is on the pumpkin. Several nights of below freezing have resulted in a few blemishes and soft spots on the skin of several of my pumpkins. I suppose, just like all the Christmas decorations in the stores, the word is that fall is on its way out and winter is fast approaching. But I cry out for just a few more weeks of falling leaves, crisp and invigorating 60 degree temperatures, and beautiful blue skies. Let me languish in my pumpkin mania for just a bit longer.