Pumpkins

I love fall, and pumpkins are a major reason why. I also like leaves changing color, and the way the air smells, and the rain-sans-thunder (which does not happen in summer), and kids going back to school. But a big part are the pumpkins, and here's why:

The color orange. I have grown fond of orange in the last few years. Pumpkins are such a lovely color of orange - it stands out against green, against brown, against most things really . . . it looks good with the red and yellow leaves.

Pumpkin treats. I don't like to eat squash. That's a well-known fact. However, if you puree pumpkin or cook it or whatever it is you do to it to turn it into the orange stuff in the can, then it's great. Pumpkin bread, squares, cookies, cake, pie . . . mmm . . . pie. Pumpkin soup is good too, but I think it's really just squash soup with "pumpkin" used as a generic term

Jack-o-Lanterns. I love carving pumpkins. Scraping out the guts, using the little pumpkin saws to make cool pictures and faces, feeding pumpkin seeds to the hamster, it's so much fun. Sadly, I didn't do any jack-o-lanterns this Halloween, but I plan to make up for it next year.