Pumpkin Carving...

Okay, the boys drove us completely bat shit yesterday over pumpkin carving (no pun intended). First thing in the morning, "when are we going to the Pumpkin Harvest"? "It's six o'clock in the morning", I told them. Later, that morning we head off to the library to pick the perfect pumpkin. Both of the boys had won a contest to receive a free pumpkin, so they made a quick dash past all the craft booths to the rows of pumpkins laid out on the library floor. The two of them had chosen the two biggest ones they could find and preceded to lug them through all the people milling around. Gage, looked like a monkey humping a football as he waddled around. I thought for sure he was going to drop it, but he held on for dear life, making his way back towards the counter. Jayce, wasn't quite sure, after walking ten feet with his, that he had made the right decision choosing such a large pumpkin. Amy and I laughed. It was quite a site. Fall has always been my favorite season. Of course, fall in the desert and fall in New England are two totally different things. If you have never experienced fall in an area where oak and maple tree flourish, I highly recommend you take at least one vacation to upstate New York, Vermont or New Hampshire, during the fall. It is absolutely incredible. Fall, in New England, is when the huge majestic oaks and maple tree change color to vibrant, reds, yellows, oranges. The colors most often associated with Halloween. I have often wondered if people in the western United States, truly understand why these colors represent this season. Having spent the later part of my years in Colorado, I have heard people ask, "why red and orange". "Our tree's are green and yellow in the fall", and I laugh. I have seen their leaves grow to be as big as your face and blanket the ground to depths of over one and a half feet thick. This is leaf pile season! We used to all take our rakes and rake the leaves into piles, ten feet deep, beneath an old oak tree with a rope swing. We would take turns swinging out over the pile and landing on top of the leaf pile. Every so often, pausing, to re-rake them into a huge pile again. Nothing smells like leaves in the fall...it is my favorite scent. I've heard it described as being the smell of the earth, and I agree. It is when Mother Earth, takes back into her, all that she offered up in the preceding spring...She is going to sleep through the winter and she will need her strength restored for the coming season...