There's excitement in her face. There's intensity in her face. The tools are a bit more advanced these days, but the paring knife from the silverware drawer always got the job done. Halloween afternoon was always set a side to do the deed. Mom and Dad got the pumpkins, and we made our choices. Four kids and I can never remember an argument over who was to carve which orange globe. Selective memory? Once I made my choice I remember just not wanting to screw up the face. I wanted scary, of course, with a jagged mouth and big delta eyes. After we all finished and the linoleum floor was a slippery mass of guts and seeds, more than once I almost went slip sliding across the floor. Mom laughed at the mess and kept a watchful eye for the four of us with little knives. Dad just cursed the mess we had created. Next, candles were secured and placed in our jack-o-lanterns. We then paraded to the front steps and placed them in strategic places that would haunt the 'little ones' with mommies in tow. These days lighted pumpkins on wooden stairs just wouldn't be prudent. Call 911!
The morning after it was such a sad sight.
The blackened, caved-in, sooted roof and that awful smell.
My red devil costume in a pile by my bed.
... waiting for All Saints' Day.
And may the best pumpkin help take out tomorrow's garbage. :-)
ReplyDeleteI always thought that All Saints/Souls Days were far scarier! The pumpkins on our steps are a mess already since they provided deletable snack for the squirrels and chipmunks. PS Your Mom was a saint!!
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Deleteshe was!!
enjoyed your halloween memories, much like my own! i still have to take the boys out to get their pumpkins :)
ReplyDeleteShe looks determined.
ReplyDeleteso very cute. good memories.
ReplyDeleteYou have such wonderful memories!
ReplyDeleteGreat memories Birdman! I love skipping down memory lane with you.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember carving pumpkins as a child...but I have done it as an adult. I agree with RedPat that you have wonderful memories.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah -- the morning after. That brings back a picture or two.
ReplyDeleteAlways carved pumpkins as a kid, and don't remember any accidents with those pairing knives. Such fun. Glad a new generation can enjoy what we did all those years ago.
ReplyDeleteVery cute shot.
ReplyDeleteI loved the smell of carved pumpkins though I don't think I've ever carved one myself. I've been around tool users who could always wield cutting edges better than me.
Something I haven't done since I was a kid. I do know the squirrels love nibbling on them.
ReplyDeleteI used to love carving pumpkins when I was a kid. Then I enjoyed doing it with my own kids until one year when I wasn't paying attention, I stabbed my hand pretty badly with a carving knife. Talk about gruesome! Somehow it was never the same after that for me or for my kids.
ReplyDeleteI have always enjoyed carving the pumpkins, but down here in Naples the oldsters don't seem to care about Halloween. I am tempted to find and carve a pumpkin even though we won't have a single visitor on Halloween.
ReplyDeleteIt's gotten a lot more complicated, hasn't it? Who thought of fancy tracing patterns when we were kids?
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