The Depressing Pumpkin Patch

Day 168 ~ Year 3

Team Zybko

November 22, 2015

It was a last minute type of thing. A spur of the moment panic to go pick pumpkins from a real patch on the Sunday afternoon before Halloween. Not like the kids would be scarred for life if we skipped a year of scooping slimy guts, carving, burning the seeds on high broil and Drexel lighting the innards of his particular orange vegetable on fire. 

Seriously, you do this once you have done it a thousand times. But we were up for the adventure so off we went. 

It started off great and all. The Fall colors were breath taking during our long walk down the pretty path to the patch but these pictures are pretty much where the visual Norman Rockwell memories stopped. As soon as we rounded the corner, the sun seemed to disappear behind a menacing thick layer of October clouds. Well, there goes the nice natural lighting for a keeper kinda picture of the younger three. No worries, it's not ALL about the picture memories hung on a wall or posted here.  

I kept clicking the small silver button on my Nikon despite the awful, funky smell entering my nostrils with every soccer mom breath I took. It that overripe mud? Is it cow poop? Is that rotting pumpkins? What could smell so bad I was unsure. Holding back an overactive gag reflex I mushed on with the crowd capturing fake smiles, avoiding tripping over vines and breaking a hip and encouraging one child to just pick one for the love of the Lord and go with it.

The point of no return was the unexpected, explosive bloody nose that created a movie like ten year zombie look. Yep,

the sort of blood water fall that requires a modern McGyver mom to think fast and sacrifice one of her favorite no show, extra thick, brand new black socks.

Time to go kids. We are done. 

The long walk back up the pretty path was where the real memories were made. Watching the team work and determination of my little crew was worth the not the so perfect experience a half a mile behind us. Delighted like any mom would be as they happily traded off the duties of carrying the many pounds of hand picked unique pumpkins. I couldn't help but smile inside and out as bright as the sun that was sure to come back out, tomorrow.