Pumpkins...

This year I grew a single pumpkin plant.  Here is my harvest, ready to turn into jack o' lanterns.  My daughter and I cut and scooped and scraped and carved.  One pumpkin had a huge eyeball on it, one a ghost and the third a crescent moon. They greeted a little witch and a handful of other goblins.  My "after" photos were not so good, you'll have to your imagination run wild! 

I had a memory while I was carving of a story I heard when I was a small kid.  It was supposed to be a scary story  My friend told me that one time when they carved a pumpkin they removed the lid and found a live mouse inside.  I realized tonight that every time I cut a pumpkin I am subconsciously looking for a cute little mouse. To me that would be a happy surprise... the story backfired and didn't scare me a bit.

I also fondly remembered holding tightly to my mothers hand while going trick or treating.  We'd scuff our feet through the frosty leaves and she'd say, "Crunch, crunch, crunch, Billy Goat's out to lunch!"  One neighbor lived in a beautiful old colonial house with a fireplace so large I could stand in it.  They would have a kettle full of hot apple cider suspended over a fire, and the warmth of their home and that aromatic drink would be so welcoming after a cold walk in the dark.  

Tonight we put heaping handfuls of candy into children's bags. I hope someday when those kids are big they'll ride by our place and say, "That is the house that always had a bunch of jack o' lanterns and gave a silly amount of candy!" It would be fun to be part of a happy memory.