It's Pumpkin Time!

I always expect a lot from Thanksgiving weekend. When I was a kid I read Highlights For Kids, and my favourite issues were the Autumn ones. The cover was typically idealistic, with a pie-toting family arriving at the grandparents for a tasty turkey din-din. The trees had left a coating of orange all over the lawn and the kids were running around with the doggy. Everyone had a smile on their face.

I wish real life was like Highlights For Kids. And it almost can be with a little effort.

Suz and I did the traditional pumpkin hunt, which always brings a smile to my face. We always try and patronize the smaller farms or independent businesses.

This year we stopped at a nearby farm for three dollar pumpkins. This is a stupendous deal considering other nearby farms charge a whopping $10 for similarly sized pumpkins. But size isn't everything, as I've learned over the years. There's a lot less work carving smaller pumpkins!

So, instead of spending $40 on a quartet of gourds that would eventually rot anyway, we only spent $12. We also took the opportunity to snap a few pictures of the pumpkin patch and the happy red tractor it surrounded.

Afterwards we picked apples and loaded them into the Insight along with the four pumpkins. We even crammed a few bags of groceries in the car before we headed home.

Back at home Suz baked a pie. At my parents we at that pie. It all felt like a "Hightlights For Kids" moment. Then, we got a dose of real life as our traditional Thanksgiving dinner became complete, with hyperactive grandkids and all the shouting that is so typical.