The Great Pumpkin landed on our front porch last week and we are thrilled.
Grown and carved by a young friend of mine and his talented grandpa, the pumpkin weighed a healthy 180 pounds in its prime. It lost 60 pounds in preparation for the holiday season (due to gastric surgery that relieved him of his guts) and reported for duty at a svelte 120 — still a hefty load to maneuver from the driveway to the front porch.
I could not be more proud to host him for Halloween. He represents all that I love about the holiday — creativity, multi-generational appeal, spookiness, sweetness and fun.
We received updates throughout the summer as the pumpkin began to reach its epic proportions. By August 5, he was just a couple of inches from two-feet across. Two weeks later he was bigger than the boy who was helping his grandpa grow it. By the end of September, the pumpkin hit its full weight and his growing team started making plans to turn him into a Jack O’Lantern.
With 3D ghouls etched on his front and the grim reaper carved into his side, the pumpkin offers the perfect combination of creepy and cool. He classes up the joint as he sits between a sheet ghost and some dead begonias on our front porch.
We’re enjoying our time with the Great Pumpkin, though we know it’s fleeting.
Come Halloween night we fully expected him to rise in majestic glory, because, as Linus said, everyone knows the Great Pumpkin rises from the patch he thinks is most sincere.
Happy Halloween from our house to yours.
