Standing in the middle of a pumpkin patch for close to an hour taking pictures might not be most people’s idea of a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon, but it was surprisingly relaxing, in large part because I had left my cellphone in the car and was effectively out of radio contact for the duration. No one even knew where I was, since I’d been down at the Journal office by myself before heading to Desert Hills to snap some pics, and how often is someone truly uncontactable these days?
Not often, is the answer for most people. It’s equal parts awe-inspiring and humbling to realize that many people carry about in their pocket a device that contains more technological capability than NASA had at its disposal in 1969 when it was trying to land men on the moon. We don’t always make the best use of this technology, but I thought of something late night host Seth Meyers said last year, after he reached out to someone who had posted a video about how people who were broadcasting from home could do a better job with a few simple tweaks. “It was a great reminder of how awesome a place the internet can be when good people use it with kindness,” said Meyers.
You have time to think of things like this when you’re standing in a pumpkin patch, camera at the ready, watching tractors trundling through the field as they drop off and pick up people in search of the perfect pumpkin. Looking at the thousands of pumpkins stretching out in every direction, glowing against the withered vines that whispered and rustled in the restless wind, I wondered how you could ever pick the perfect pumpkin, since almost every one of them was the Platonic ideal of what a perfect pumpkin should look like.
I consider myself to be something of a pumpkin connoisseur, at least when it comes to carving them and picking the best ones for that purpose; a skill honed over several decades of carving multiple pumpkins each year (my record is 24, for those keeping score at home). Indeed, even though they’re vegetables, I think of them almost exclusively in terms of Halloween decorations; if I think of them in food terms, it’s as a bland but essential ingredient in pumpkin pies. It was therefore something of a shock, when I was reading the Botswana-set “No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency” novels by Alexander McCall Smith, to see the number of times that Mma Ramotswe, the main character, cooked pumpkin for supper as a side dish, in the same way we would serve potatoes.
But I digress. The perfect carving pumpkin should have a flat bottom so that it sits upright; not be too narrow at the top, to facilitate getting inside and scooping the guts out; have one side or “face” that is slightly more prominent or larger than the other, for carving; and ideally still have a goodly portion of the stem attached, for carrying, removing the lid, and to “complete” the carved pumpkin. It’s a template that has stood me in good stead for many years, apart from the odd stem mishap when one breaks off unexpectedly. You win some, you lose some.
The happy youngsters scampering about the pumpkin patch were clearly having a wonderful time, although since each pumpkin they spotted was better than the last one it took some of them a while to make a last, absolutely final, no doubt about it this is the one decision. I don’t know how many people I watched come and go, but there were probably about the same number of happy memories being made; memories that many people captured using their cellphone, to take pictures or videos.
Technology in a pumpkin patch, and good people using it with kindness. A fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon? Try it. You might be surprised at how very far a little bit of peace, and a whole lot of pumpkins, can go.
editorial@accjournal.ca
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