The Rising of the Hope

You know how that big fat glowing orange moon always makes an appearance around October .... the one people refer to as harvest moon ... but the pumpkins who live in the patch know the real story behind that moon, and they simply call it the Rising of the Hope. Pumpkins sometimes lose hope in this life ... because they're up on all the pumpkin news and they know how many pumpkins are being slaughtered this time of year, and made into coffee, ice cream, pies, and even beer now. Recently, in fact, they have become increasingly popular, but no one knows the price of popularity better than pumpkins.

A few find fame ... like those 900-pound pumpkins that get towed around to fairs and make the news, but they meet with their own tragic ends. Ditto for the pumpkins so proudly displayed on porches for all the little candy-hungry trick-or-treaters to enjoy, and are then left to rot. If they manage to survive that holiday without having their stuffings scooped out and their insides lit with fire, they know they must face the daunting holiday of doom known as Thanksgiving.

Pumpkins for obvious reasons do not like Thanksgiving. Two words: Pumpkin pie.

They want more from life, but few of them find it. When the baby pumpkins ask the older ones what life is really about, where they will wind up and what will happen to them, the senior pumpkins tell them the story of the Rising of the Hope and how if they believe hard enough and strong enough, one day they will rise far above this and smile down upon the world.

Fall is their season to do this, and they know this because of the big light in the sky. Each month it grows full and round ... but only during the season of the pumpkin is it so glowing and orange, and this is their sign, their reason to hope, their motivation to believe that they can rise above the pumpkin pies, the slaughtering, the burning, the ice cream and even the pumpkin ale and become one of the shining pumpkins in the sky.

They need hope. Because life, for the pumpkins, is getting very stressful. Recently, Dunkin Donuts has started posting signs all over their shops that say Pumpkin Is Back. It's become downright devastating for the pumpkin population. They are living in a state of constant panic now, but they still continue to hope, fat little pollyannas that they are.

Most people don't believe in the Rising of Hope ... they just prefer to call this phenomenon the Harvest Moon .... Some, like the blanket-carrying Linus, know better. But even he doesn't talk about this much. In fact, it was Linus who said: "There are three things I have learned never to discuss with people: Religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin."

But we know there are others out there who agree with Linus and we too should unite and rise up for the sake of pumpkins everywhere .... It will be hard to give up the pumpkin consumption, for sure ... but it's important to note that pumpkins are peaceful creatures and despite years of torture from humans, not one pumpkin has ever ordered a people coffee or eaten people pie on a pumpkin family holiday. So remember every year when you see the big harvest moon, know that pumpkins everywhere hoped really hard to make that happen for you.

Dropped the pumpkins at Jaxson's Ice Cream Parlor in Dania .... just under the sink ... not The Kitchen Sink full of ice cream that feeds you and 20 of your friends .... but the little sink in the ladies room. They're hiding in there and they're really, really scared because they heard some lady in the parking lot say she just got the very last of the pumpkin ice cream .... They're hoping really hard that Linus, or one of his crew, comes and rescues them. So hopefully someone with a soft spot for pumpkins will take them home .....