The Great Pumpkin

There are times in life when one is required to be a grown-up. Happily, they are few and far between.


In recent years, I've missed out on the festive holidays which pepper the end of the calendar. (That's what happens good, little boys and girls when you are working relentlessly on a PhD.) Following a bit of nostalgia last fall and the carving of my first pumpkin all by myself (see picture), I spent a bit of dosh stocking my DVD collection with some of those holiday classics.

There is something special about watching "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" regardless of how old you are. Maybe it's the quirky gang of Charles Schultz' creation. Or, the depth of Snoopy's imagination. Or, poor Charlie with his holey ghost costume and bag of rocks. Like a doorway back to childhood for a few minutes, when the world was a bit simpler, you could eat the candy you got from the neighbours, and parties ended with an innocent goody bag rather than spiked punch. (If you haven't seen it in a while, or missed it on the networks, I am ashamed to admit, it is available for free on YouTube.com.) After Linus' tears, I opted not to kill a pumpkin this year. (Besides, it would just have to go in the bin as I get ready for the road.)

After seeing Sponge Bob Squarepants riding a Lothian bus, rather than a pineapple under the sea, I thought I'd see what the rest of the world was up to on Halloween night. To my delight, CNN posted a wonderful little story about a small town in Colorado which awoke to the sight of pumpkins everywhere. Call me sentimental, but thats pretty sweet. If you are interested in the story, I've included the website below.

Boone, Colorado - Nobody knows who, but someone with a lot of Halloween spirit decorated this small southern Colorado town with hundreds and hundreds of pumpkins. Residents woke up Tuesday to find virtually every surface covered with the orange holiday icons. There were pumpkins left on front porches and at front gates, on the front and back steps of a church and all along the boundary of the city park. – cnn.com http://us.cnn.com/2006/US/11/01/pumpkin.town.ap/index.html

With winter's arrival pending, I'll be heading to warmer climates in a few weeks time. Yippee! But, watch this space, there are a few photos from my fall rambles around Edinburgh waiting to be developed for your enjoyment.