I Paint Jack O Lanterns Now

When I was a child I carved pumpkins in silly ways. I enjoyed adding pointed teeth and hair in gobs of frays. I always made the eyes oval, and the nose a triangle. The light of the pumpkin amazed me; I loved her pretty glow. As I got older my pumpkins should have evolved a bit. Instead I did not want to carve them; I threw a little fit. It was not my idea to have a brother eight years younger. So, my mother helped him carve one, while I died of hunger. When I went to college I met three tiny women from Japan. They wanted to go trick-or-treating, and I lied and said “I am.” We also carved out pumpkins; theirs were delicate like origami. I was embarrassed by mine, wishing it would be taken by a tsunami. When I became a mother, my children carved a pumpkin one day. I hate this! They said, all prissy. It was stressful in every way. So, we agreed to paint them, and that has been fun for all of us since. Wouldn't want to carve another pumpkin to rot and throw over a fence.