I spy joy in the pumpkin patch

It’s becoming increasingly like fall: cold and sometimes foggy in the morning and warming to near 70 degrees by mid-afternoon.  And it’s almost Halloween.  A fall tradition for us is taking the family (and in this case, two families) to the pumpkin patch to select the all-important pumpkins for carving.  We take the hay ride from the farm out to the field — which is a joy in itself — then we each romp around looking for THE pumpkin.  This year, it was so much fun to watch the kids and their friends.  The boys both selected pumpkins so big they could hardly carry them, and the girls were just so happy to find one that was cute and round and just the right size.

Spending a hour out on a farm, surrounded by moist earth, acres of plump orange pumpkins and giggling children.  That’s a pretty joyous afternoon.