I make music and take pictures, but my wife is the creative half of the team. She does it all. I have threatened to list her abilities here before but none of us have that much time! She loves to carve pumpkins during the Halloween season and would other times if pumpkins were around. We would have the kids and grand kids come over and carve pumpkins in the back yard. It was so much fun and the kids really loved it too. She made the mistake of telling a few friends and the next year they invited themselves. We all had a blast. I am not great in the carving department so I would gut them for the little kids, make sure music was playing and everyone had a hot drink and a perfect pumpkin to work on. It was a great family event and each year we looked forward to pumpkin carving time.
It seemed like a harmless mistake. Friends told other friends. Each year we had more and more people coming over. We provided the pumpkins and you could take yours home after showing them off to everyone. The carving tools got more elaborate. The patterns and artwork more challenging and the carved pumpkins were AWESOME. I served more hot drinks, gutted more pumpkins than I could count.
Soon we had more events; we had a screaming contest to see who had the most blood-curdling ear-piercing screams (the little kids were unbeatable!). We had walnut trees and as a result a walnut throwing contest. Haunted trails through the woods.
Then came the hay rides! Not to be outdone, we had a haunted house the next year using lights, fog machines and other equipment from the bands I played in. People started bringing soup and chili to share so we had contests for the best dish. We started buying pumpkins by the skid! It now took almost a month to plan the events and get masks, haunted house, hay rides and everything else ready for the big day.
My wife and I were so busy entertaining that she could no longer take the time to carve pumpkins! This is why the whole thing started and now she could not carve any of her own. WE were exhausted by the end of the day and even though we had a great time and everyone loved the event, we looked around and decided not to do it next year. Or the year after.
Fortunately, friends of ours started their own carving events and we went over to theirs to carve pumpkins for a few years until they moved out of state!
With that in mind, here are just a few of the pictures. Maybe one day close to Halloween I will post the winners of the screaming contest!
how things can so easily spiral out of hand…
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Indeed. You see it happening but it is fun, and allow it to continue until it becomes overwhelming. Age played its part as well as we would likely continue if we were still young and energetic!
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can totally relate to that 🙂
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LOL! Understood!
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Oh wow, how awesome is that! It’s great that you started that tradition and nice that other people carried it on!
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I thought so too. For years it was a great time with friends and family and who doesn’t like to carve pumpkins? (especially if someone guts them for you LOL!). I would recommend it to anyone looking for a family event.
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I love the curves in this shot!
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I think it is sooooo cool to see all those pumpkins. Thanks!
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Love the story and the photos of the family event. I admire you and your family for knowing when it was time to say, “this season is over” and step away with good memories and your sanity. Please share more photos when the pumpkin comes around this 2016 year:) blessings, denise
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Thank you! Great comments. We escaped with good memories but I am never sure about the sanity part Ha! Ha! Pictures of past events I have a’ plenty. Not sure what we will do this year, but I think Ellen will still want to carve pumpkins!
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Nice, return to where you both started. A warm drink, a cozy outdoor fire, and a carving pumpkin man! I can hear Van Morrison singing now…”It’s a marvelous night for a moondance with the stars up above in your eyes:):):)
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Ha! Things have a way of coming full circle and when it comes back around we can appreciate it more! Now I will be humming that tune all day LOL!
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A healthy sense of community and fellowship. And fun! I love it!
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It really was (is) a great communal event. A lot of people participated and made the gatherings much more fun for all. Try it, you might like it! Thank you!
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Great post and great idea. Traditions are vanishing these days among many (and especially young) people. Not only the big ones like e.g. Christmas but also the smaller ones. It’s good to see that your pumpkin carving event got a bit out of hand. Now others are hosting them and you can go there. Your wive has the time to carve pumpkins again and you can make sure you GET a hot drink instead of serving them 😉 You’re a good man, Mike!
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Thank you! You know, you are right now that I think about it. It is difficult to connect to traditions especially if they require some form of creative participation. Thank goodness my wife is the talented one! Yes, we passed on the torch and now we get to enjoy talking to friends, and warm drink and crafting a great pumpkin! I appreciate your thoughts.
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You’re welcome 🙂
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Mike, I really love this article. Would you mind if I repost this on ARHtistic License next October?
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Howdy! Thank you so much for the feedback and generous comments. Also, thank you for asking and you most certainly repost this article.
I looked at a bunch of these pictures recently and could not wait until October LOL!
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Thanks!
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You are more than welcome.
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Reblogged this on ARHtistic License.
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