[Faith-talk] Pumpkin Patch Kids

[debby]

Paul, thank you for reminding me of childhood. I have allowed myself to grow fearful and also very negative about Hallowe. But as I read the story, I was thinking about the first time I felt the inside of a pumpkin and smelled that pumpkin smell. Later I learned that you could roast the pumpkin seeds and eat them. And I discovered the deliciousness of pumpkin soup. And of course, my very favorite, pumpkin pie.

We would go out trick-or-treating with great anticipN and excitement. Back in those days, we got wonderful treats--popcorn balls, pumpkin-shaped doughnuts, and mostly full-sized candy bars. Now kids get those little miniature bars, and never, never, never anything homemade. Yes, I know different times, wickeder times. In fact, adults have taken over Hallowene with their own Hallowene parties. So when my granddaughter excitedly puts on her costume Monday night, I will try and remember the fun and anticipN I had as a little girl, going out trick-or-treating. At the School for the Blind, nobody had any costumes. We had masks, but no costumes. One year my mom made me a witch costume. I wore it, of course. But I was the only one with a costume and the housemothers almost didn't let me wear it since I was the only girl that had one.

Thanks for letting me ramble a bit.    Debby

On Oct 29, 2016 6:55 AM, Paul Smith via Faith-Talk <faith-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
> Hello and greetings to most of you for the second time today.  This 
> will be my only opportunity to present for you a Halloween 
> contribution, and although not a Christian article in the technical 
> sense of the word, I found it in such a publication, and hope you will 
> enjoy the following. 
>
> For them, Halloween was all about hometown jack-o-lanterns. 
>
> October is usually a happy time for me--my grandchildren, Daniel and 
> Carly, get all excited about Halloween.  They spend weeks beforehand 
> discussing their costumes and dreaming of all that candy.  More than 
> anything else, though, they love pumpkins.  And not just any pumpkins.  
> They wanted the ones that grew in their great-aunt Margaret's yard.  I 
> liked to joke that my sister Margaret had a soft spot for those 
> kids--the compost pile in her backyard.  That's where the pumpkins 
> grew.  And she and the kids tended to them, slipping an upside-down pie 
> pan under each one so it wouldn't rot sitting on the ground.  Whenever 
> I picked my grandchildren up and took them to visit Margaret, they'd 
> barely say hello before bursting out into the yard to see what was 
> going on in their "pumpkin patch." They harvested them and used the big 
> ones to carve into jack-o-lanterns. 
>
> I didn't know how or why pumpkins grew in a compost heap, of all 
> places.  Margaret never planted seeds.  Maybe she'd thrown an old 
> pumpkin out there one year.  She had a green thumb, though.  She could 
> have dug a hole, dropped in a worm and ended up growing a rosebush.  I 
> envied her gardening skills.  If only I had inherited Margaret's 
> abilities after she passed away. 
>
> What would my grandkids do that first October after my sister died? 
> Halloween without Margaret's pumpkins, Lord? I prayed one night.  I 
> wished there were some other way to make the day special to let Daniel 
> and Carly know their great-aunt's spirit lived on. 
>
> Next day I went to visit the kids.  I can help them with their 
> costumes, I thought.  That'll be something, at least.  "Hi!" I said, 
> opening the door. 
>
> As soon as I walked in they said the quickest hello before shouting, 
> "Grandma! Grandma! Come and see!" 
>
> "See what?" 
>
> "Just Come!" they said, grabbing my hands and dragging me with them.  
> We went outside.  There, right on the side of the house, were half a 
> dozen pumpkins.  All plump and orange, with vines trailing everywhere.  
> Growing in a spot where nothing had ever been planted. 
>
> I said, "You know what Aunt Margaret would do if she were here ..." We 
> all raced to the kitchen to get some pie pans.  The biggest and best 
> got turned into jack-o'-lanterns.  The rest decorated the front porch.  
> And they lasted for months, an autumn-long reminder for my two little 
> pumpkin patch kids. 
>
> And there you have it for this guy's Halloween contribution which I 
> trust brought back some nostalgic memories for you.  Until tomorrow in 
> this space when, Lord willing the weekly Bible trivia game poem will be 
> posted, then from the New Testament, may the God of Abraham, Isaac and 
> Jacob just keep us safe, individually and collectively, in these last 
> days in which we live.  Your Christian friend and brother, Paul 
>
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