A pumpkin surprise brings in Autumn…

You know the story of Cinderella and the Pumpkin Coach Magic and all that.

Well, on a tiny, tiny, tiny scale of that famous tale, my grandson Andrew and I had a little Pumpkin Magic ourselves today at my new home.

I’ll begin at the beginning.  Earlier this summer, I had noticed some unusually large leaves and vines winding their way around a fence bordering our driveway.  I actually took a photo and sent it to my son-in-law Matthew, who has a farm garden.  He immediately texted back to expect pumpkins from those leaves and vines.

Then.  Nothing.  Happened.

The leaves wilted and dried and settled reluctantly into the shrubs already growing on that fence.

And that was that.

Until this morning, when I noticed something orange-ish peeking from way, way inside and under that growth of vines and shrubs and random Autumn weeds bordering the fence. My 9-year old grandson Andrew just happened to have slept over last night (he has no school today), so I called to him (in pajama-mode) to come outside and help me investigate…

Andrew nimbly sorted through the vines, snipped the large stem, pulled out the pumpkin and showed off its fairy tale size.

He brought the surprise pumpkin inside and washed it carefully… studying it for carving possibilities.  (Andrew’s #1 choice is gutting the pumpkin, collecting the pulp and seeds and carving a face with a mouth spewing the pulp like vomit.)

It was a beautiful, magical morning with something as simple as a Pumpkin.

(Vomit possibilities and all!)

Stay tuned.