Do you guys feel ignored? I swear I did not forget about you
last week. I know that I only revealed one theme. The reason for this is that I
have returned to work and had family obligations last week. This timing
actually works in our favor though because the secondary theme will be running
longer than seven days for a few weeks. Since Halloween is on a Wednesday, it
screws with our pictures. Therefore, we have decided to extend two weeks in
order to have Halloween themed pictures on the actual holiday. So this week’s
theme will last longer than 7 days and I will therefore reveal it later than
normal. So while this post may seem like it is late, it is merely preparing you
for the shift you will experience until November. But fear not because I am
here to reveal last week’s secondary theme. It follows the general October
theme, and therefore is awesome. Last week’s theme was pumpkins!! I absolutely love pumpkins and all things pumpkin related. As a kid, my mother loved to watch the Charlie Brown holiday specials, so I have a love for the story of The Great Pumpkin. Besides being in cool stories, one of the great
things about pumpkins is their versatility in October. A pumpkin is merely a gourd-like
squash. They are native to North America and are used for so many things.
Naturally, a vegetable grown is something to be eaten. Thus when they are ripe,
they are harvested and used to make many yummy treats. When somebody says
pumpkin food, the first thing people think of is pumpkin pie. Pumpkin pie is
delicious, but there are so many more things that are made out of pumpkins today.
There is pumpkin bread, pumpkin rolls, pumpkin donuts, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin
soup, pumpkin raviolis, and even pumpkin coffee; just to name a few. In fact, these days I start
each day with a cup of pumpkin coffee and either a pumpkin waffle or a bagel
with pumpkin cream cheese. I can admit that I am a tad pumpkin obsessed. My
theory is that since some of it is only offered for a limited time, I have to
eat/drink as much as possible before it is gone. Can you blame me though? It is
all just so delicious. Even the seeds are good enough to eat. But eating them
is just one thing, albeit a great thing, to do with a pumpkin.
Pumpkins,
while tasty are also used in America for decoration. A pumpkin is a symbol of
October and Halloween. Every year millions of pumpkins are drawn on or gutted.
That’s right, I said gutted. It is a Halloween tradition to cut open a pumpkin
and scrape out its insides. That of course gives you lots of slimy pumpkin guts
and seeds you can turn into those yummy treats. It also makes the pumpkin ready
to be carved. Jack o’ lanterns are a Halloween tradition that every child
loves. Even adults love them too. Pumpkin carving has become an art form. Every
year in October, the Food Network has a special called Halloween Wars. Each
week teams work to make creations out of cake, candy and carved pumpkins. Some
of the things these people carve are works of art. The rest of us non
professionals can carve cool pumpkins too. In fact, I myself will be carving
pumpkins this week. I can guarantee they will not be works of art, but I can
also guarantee that I will have a great deal of fun carving them. I love
carving pumpkins. I haven’t done it in years, but I used to have so much fun
with it as a kid. Maybe it is the act of carving, or maybe it is the symbolism
behind it. Whatever the reason, it is just plain fun.
I
mentioned symbolism of carved pumpkins. There is of course the obvious
Halloween decoration, but it is so much more than that. The first carved
pumpkins were not actually used for Halloween. Originally, they were merely
lanterns duplicated by Americans. In Ireland and Scotland, other vegetables
were used around this time to carve the lanterns. Once people immigrated to
North America, they continued this tradition with pumpkins because they were
more readily available and bigger. The carved pumpkin was often found on the
Thanksgiving table but later became a symbol of Halloween. This is believed
that have come from the custom that was used during Samhain. In Celtic
countries, Samhain is celebrated during what we now call Halloween. It can also
be known as All Hallows Eve. During Samhain, it is said that the souls of the
dead could come back to visit. This could mean you will be visited by a loved
one, or even an evil spirit. In the old days, they would carve a turnip and
place it in the window to ward off the evil spirit. This is why we now have
jack o’ lanterns made of pumpkins in America. So in a simple vegetable you get
history, lore, entertainment, and yummy treats. I’d say that makes a pumpkin a
pretty awesome thing, wouldn’t you agree? Check out some of the cooler pumpkin
pictures from last week, and go carve your own or eat some pumpkin goodies.
Enjoy, and stay tuned for this week’s themes.
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