I love pumpkins and I don't care who knows it. Every October I go a bit....ok, a lot pumpkin crazy. As soon as the first of October rolls around I give myself permission to unleash my inner pumpkin purchasing power. It really doesn't matter what form the pumpkin takes, I just have to have it.
So far this year I have purchased pumpkin bath scrub, pumpkin puree, pumpkin scented candles, pumpkin decorations, pumpkin room spray, pumpkin flashlights, a pumpkin shirt, pumpkin carving tools, and pumpkins of every shape and size imaginable (the count is up to at least 11). I have been given pumpkin socks, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin nog, a pumpkin blizzard and a pumpkin greeting card. I have a cat named Pumpkin, I just made a pumpkin pie, and have been to the pumpkin patch twice and plan to go again. In addition to all that, I hear that there is such a thing as pumpkin Pot Tarts, but I can't find them. And I just got a coupon in the mail for pumpkin cream cheese, but the store doesn't have any. Sigh, I feel deprived somehow.
After all that pumpkin craziness, I still want more. Pumpkins make up at least half of my Halloween and Thanksgiving decor. So it is really no surprise that one of my favorite Halloween decorations is a great big light up plastic pumpkin that stands about three feet tall. We call him the Great Pumpkin after the Charlie Brown Halloween special. He has been in our family almost as long as I have. His paint is faded and he has a few dents from wind storms, but he keeps on bringing me October joy and that is all that matters.
I don't know why I like pumpkins so much, I just do. They come in all sorts of wonderful colors, shapes and sizes. You have to go to a patch or at least a theme decorated part of a store to get them. You can decorate them a myriad of ways. You can paint them, stick things to them, glitter them, bejewel them or plain old carve them.
I think it is the carving that I like the most. It isn't so much the theme of the carving (cuz really I have the artistic abilities of a three year old) as getting to cut into the pumpkin and play with the guts. As a kid that was my very favorite thing to do and still is. I would wait until the designated parent cut the top off and then I got to scoop away. I just love the squish and goo of pumpkin innards. Then I love roasting the seeds. The pumpkin is just the best multi functional food. It is like the Swiss army knife of decorations. You can eat it, carve it, use it for a bowl, decorations, bowling, or pumpkin' chunkin'. You can't do that with a tomato or a carrot. You can probably do it with a watermelon, but who cares, we aren't talking about summer foods.
It is funny to think about. If you were a visitor from outer space or someone who had lived in the wilds since birth and only just stumbled out of the jungle, what would you make of people setting this big orange thing outside their doors with funny carvings on them? Would you think it was an important custom? Would a person who had more than one pumpkin be considered rich to you?
In the days of yore it wasn't even pumpkins that were carved. It was turnips. I know, finally a use for them. Turnips were carved with scary faces to ward off evil. Those people must have been major artisans. Well, they did know how to whittle back then. But turnips are small and I imagine that carving them is difficult.
In the mid 19th century in the U.S. turnip carving gave way to pumpkin carving. Turnips were scarce and costly, so the next best thing was the pumpkin. It was big and plentiful. Plus if a turnip can scare away things that go bump in the night, then a pumpkin that is six or seven times larger can scare away more. From bonfires, to turnips with embers in them, to pumpkins. My how our festivities have evolved.
A few fun facts about pumpkins; in keeping with the idea that pumpkin carvings scare demons, pumpkins should be planted on Good Friday. According to the U.S. Census Bureau Illinois produces more pumpkins than any other American state. California, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York also contribute healthy crops. This year, Ron Wallace from Greene, Rhode Island grew the first over one ton pumpkin. It weighed in at 2,009 lbs. That is one big gourd. You could actually climb into it. The record for the most lit pumpkins at one time and in one place, normally goes to the folks in Keene, New Hampshire (Google it, that place is amazing and I want to go there). In 2006, their record stood at 28,952 lit pumpkins. On October 26, 2007, Boston Ma. shattered this record with 30,128 lit pumpkins! Imagine having to count them all.
In 2000, Steve Clarke of Havertown, Pa became the fastest pumpkin carver. Steve carved a pumpkin in a record one minute and 14.8 seconds. I can't even imagine how fast the pumpkin guts were flying. And last but not least, the record for the longest distance in Pumpkin Chunkin (the use of an air cannon to propel a pumpkin across a distance) stands at 4,483.51 feet. That's over 3/4 of a mile!. A team named "Young Glory II" set this record in 2008 at the annual Pumpkin Chunkin contest in Nassau, DE.
So it seems that I am not the only one who loves pumpkins. There are all sorts of fun things to do with them. I think I will go buy some more in celebration. But first let me go eat some of that fresh from the oven pumpkin pie. Did I mention that I love pumpkins ;)
No comments:
Post a Comment