Pumpkin Picking with the Family

When I was a little girl, my grandparents used to take me and my sisters out to Browns Orchard in Loganville, PA to pick pumpkins. It was one of the things I looked forward to most in the Fall - picking that perfect pumpkin and then going for a nice glass of fresh apple cider. In Texas we didn't do the pumpkin thing. In fact, it was rare if I even got a pumpkin in Texas, so when I found out we were moving back to the NE, I looked forward to revisiting my childhood a bit and joining my family again on our annual pumpkin picking adventures.

Now the location has changed and we have a few new welcome additions to our little harvesting pack, but the good times remain the same. The old farmhouse across from my grandparents house is now the scene of our new escapade. They pile us pumpkin hunters on a hayride and transport us from the barn to the fields where we can enjoy a variety of pleasures from pumpkin picking to corn mazing. Since Erick joined our little band, he has instituted a new tradition - picking the ugliest pumpkin in the patch. In Erick's first year, he brought home a pumpkin completely covered in warts. The second, a grey pumpkin....that we were able to take home for free because it was apparently "rotten".

In Erick's absence, my family and I were determined to keep this little tradition alive. Even my little three year old cousin, Laura, joined in the hunt for an "ugly" pumpkin. Sadly, this year no such pumpkin was to be found. I finally settled on a green spotted pumpkin that was a little deformed on one side. I am convinced, though, that had Erick been with us - he would've found a pumpkin to rival the hideous entities of years past.

Erick is disappointed that I was not able to find such a pumpkin, but I think is proud that his little tradition was still carried out in his absence. In all reality I think he should be happy that he alone has the distinction of finding the ugliest pumpkins...and he seems to top himself every year - so the fact that an entire group of us failed to find what Erick considers "the perfect pumpkin" stands as a testimony of Erick's talent and should make him proud that none could rival his knack for finding that one pumpkin in the patch that no one else would take home.