Prompt: Write about something you do very seldom that most people wouldn’t know about you that you feel is actually a big part of who you are.
A Great Pumpkin
Once in a blue moon my husband Michael and I will rally in October and make the drive down to Circleville for the annual Circleville Pumpkin Show. I love these small town festivals, and who doesn’t love seeing the 2,400 lb. pumpkin crowned winner as heaviest of them all? Yes, there’s all the competing pumpkins to see, and then all the pumpkin foods to sample, like pumpkin hamburgers, pumpkin doughnuts, and of course the crowd-pleasing pumpkin pie. And if you like people-watching like I do, it’s a feast for the eyes to gaze into the crowd of 100,000 people that show up each of the four days of the Show.
My husband was raised in Circleville, so for him it’s a trip down memory lane when we go back to his home town. Sometimes when we go down for the Pumpkin Show we’ll leave the festival and drive by his old house, which used to be considered a solitary place in the country outside of town, but now has been surrounded by adjacent houses and some business development nearby. We never have stopped by the house and tried to meet the current occupants. Instead we just do a slow drive-by. That seems to suffice these days. But I love seeing the place where Michael spent his younger years, I imagine him raking the yard and bagging leaves for his allowance. I think his stingy Dad paid him $5.00.
But back to the Pumpkin Show, and that wonderful, small-town vibe you get when you attend the yearly festival. I really, really love this, and although I’ve lived almost exclusively in large urban centers for most of my life, I really think I would love having a homestead in a small town like Circleville, where everyone pretty much knows one another and a lot of each other’s business. Occasionally a meaty scandal rocks the town, like right now the police department in Circleville is under investigation. Eventually things get sorted out, some people get fired and move away from town. Life goes on.
There are different parades during the four day Pumpkin Show, and I’ve seen the Little Miss Pumpkin beauty pageant parade as well as the Circleville High School marching band. Michael was in the band back in the early 1980s, back when it was a really big deal, with over 200 people participating. Michael played the trumpet, and wore black and red clothing in a military style as well as a tall, black furry hat. I wish I had the chance to see him playing with that large ensemble. What a sight that must have been!
My husband turned 60 in August and he’s pushing to convince me to move to a more rural locale for this next chapter of our lives. Perhaps we will end up somewhere down in Pickaway County, closer to Circleville. But then again maybe we will just stay put here in German Village. Who knows. I’m just taking things one day at a time, and right now we’ve got our own mixed assortment of pumpkins outside on the porch, just waiting to be carved. And I know how to make a mean pumpkin pie. Guess the pumpkin show for us is here this year. I don’t mind. There’s always next year to see the great pumpkin at the Circleville Pumpkin Show.
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