Pumpkins! Pumpkins! Pumpkins!

Trafton B.

October 10, 2010 - 5:41 PM

It's the heart of autumn, and you know what that means. It's pumpkin carvin' time.

This weekend my friends and I decided to relive memories from our childhood. You see, anyone can stop by Safeway and pick up their pumpkins. It's easy, they're right outside enticing you to purchase them. Why settle for that convention when you could pick the pumpkins right from the source. It's a basic tenet of supporting local agriculture if you really think about it. 

Friday afternoon, we all went pumpkin picking at Lone Pine Farms in Junction City.

If I had to make guess, I think the last time I went to a pumpkin patch was about seventeen years ago. There may have been a few times in between now and then but that's my last real memory of being in a pumpkin patch, and when I say "memory" of being there I'm actually referring to my memory of seeing the picture of my Kindergarten class on a field trip to Half Moon Bay.

Anyways, we ran through hay mazes that were too short for us and took pictures of each other sticking our heads through faux outhouse cutouts that said "Hens, Cows and Does" or "Roosters, Bulls and Bucks." Apparently Lone Pine Farms is the cool new hangout for Lane County pre-teens. I felt like I was running through the halls of middle school again.

Yesterday afternoon we carved them as we sat in our living room watching the Ducks cream Washington State. It wasn't the prettiest game we've played this season, but we made it out of Pullman with only a few bums and bruises and a fifth straight victory to start the year. The Ducks moved up to the #2 ranking in the latest Associated Press (AP) Poll thanks to an Alabama loss to South Carolina.

Where was I again? Right, pumpkin carving. Sorry, I tend to get wrapped up in Ducks football these days.

Creative designs all around for pumpkin jack-o-lanterns. Tracy's lines of rubber duckies provided some school spirit. Leslie carved a pumpkin onto her pumpkin, also thinking outside the box. Lydia's self-proclaimed "Goofy Face!" pumpkin probably took the blue ribbon though. It was a simple concept, yet so efficiently sophisticated.

I tried to show my Duck Pride by using the Oregon "O" as my jack-o-lantern's eyes, but my craftsmanship wasn't quite up for the task. It's really hard to carve a stencil version of the letter O, especially when it's as specific as our logo's font. The center of the right eye didn't last long, and the left one isn't looking too good. Toothpicks are the only things keep my pumpkin from being completely blind.

All we need is few candles and we're good to go. That'll come in due time. There's more pressing issues at hand, like fighting my way through another GIS lab and brainstorming costume ideas.