Fall is in the air and I am looking
forward to one of my favorite
Halloween traditions, carving
pumpkins.
Every year I prepare a new idea for
a decked-out gourd to wow the
neighbors who resort to simple
triangle eyes or stenciled scenes.
To shame, when such a unique
canvas for design is plump and
ready for the literal picking.
Last year, my pumpkin had giant
Dr. Suess-like eyes with a wide
chester-cat smile and inside of the
grin I carved the word “BOO.”
While I was carefully sawing and
scooping my pumpkin, my friends
glared at me over their all-tootypical
jack-o-lanterns.
The year before, I bought several
ghost pumpkins. Ghost pumpkins
are the tiny white pumpkins that fill
the grab-and-go boxes wherever
your local pumpkins are sold.
I carved my pumpkin and filled in
the mouth by stuffing in three ghost
pumpkins that made for a white
toothy grin.
Clever, I know.
Three years ago I had a little more
money to spend and made several
Halloween decorations from
random gourds.
Awkwardly shaped squash had
added wings and fangs and hung
from my porch as bats, while a
pumpkin scarecrow tried to shoo
them away.
Instead of carving a face I used
pimpled, colorful squash to be the
eyes and nose of my pumpkin-man.
While most people can express
creativity in their Halloween garb, I
sit humbly next to my extravagant
creation in my cat or bunny
costume.
This year I will be carving two
pumpkins to make up my cannibal
pumpkin feature.
I have a large pumpkin, slightly
elongated and a small, more round
pumpkin.
The small pumpkin will be carved
the traditional way; slice open the
top around the stem and scoop out its
pumpkin guts. Then, it gets a
delicately carved “scared” face.
This pumpkin will fit into the
mouth of the large pumpkin,
grimacing in cannibalistic hunger.
This decision came after I figured
the “vomiting” pumpkin would be
too messy and I wouldn’t be able to
bake any pumpkin seeds. The
vomiting pumpkin features the
innards of the pumpkin spewing
from the mouth while the eyes are
slanted slits. The pumpkin, without
any stretch of the imagination, looks
like it’s sick.
All it takes is imagination and
creativity to have a unique pumpkin
and envious friends.
If you think this is over-the-top,
you should see my Easter eggs and
Christmas tree.