Are You a Pumpkin Eater?

Yesterday the 26th, right at the first of the Fall season, was National Pumpkin Day. I am blogging about it after the fact because I saw this info after I posted yesterday’s blog.

I read that it takes an acre to harvest 1,000 pumpkins. At 7 cents a pound for an average 20-pound pumpkin, the gross income would be $1,400. And labor to harvest the pumpkins reduces that by about 50 to 60 percent.

Pumpkin growing is certainly not a get-rich-quick scheme! But on the other hand, if you are in the business of bringing joy to those who love to eat pumpkins in whatever form or recipe, and if you love seeing the joy that is received from donning your yards and homes with them, then you could be a part of spreading joy too.

I really like pumpkin swirled cake and pumpkin spice coffee at this time of the year. AND, I enjoy decorating my place with pumpkin décor – inside and out. In fact, throughout the community where I live, many places are donned with pumpkin décor.

Of all things, as I read about National Pumpkin Day, I started reciting this Mother Goose nursery rhyme. The fact that I remembered it word for word shows that inside this at-capacity mind (or so I thought) is still a memory bank that I plan to hold onto as long as I can!

Peter, Peter pumpkin eater,
Had a wife but couldn’t keep her;
He put her in a pumpkin shell
And there he kept her very well.

With a little research, I found that the rhyme was written in 1825 and a probability of the meaning is “a chastity belt”! What???? It seems Peter was married to a woman who was unfaithful to him. Iron underwear was called a pumpkin shell. This clothing item that some husbands forced their wives to wear was locked. The key was kept in the husband’s pocket.

You’re welcome. Can you imagine? A sweet nursery rhyme’s meaning wasn’t so sweet. But then again, there’s the egg, Humpty Dumpty, that fell and couldn’t be put back together again. And then there’s Jack and Jill who went up the hill and Jack fell down and broke his crown.

Unfortunately, those weren’t the only nursery rhymes that, while seemingly innocent, had gruesome original meanings. Darkness subtly in words that seem harmless at the time. We best be watching out for our children and even ourselves as the enemy of our souls is intent on creeping into our lives causing fear, anxiety and pain without warning.

I’m so thankful that we are wiser with the words we speak, the messages we hear and how we purpose to live on the bright side of life. We desire to speak into our children the goodness and greatness of God who speaks hope, safety, love, peace, and protection over them. The pumpkins on display at my place are there to declare the beauty of God’s creation during this season.

This blog is all over the place today, but maybe that’s the point. Instead of focusing on the dark side of goblins, ghosts, blood and gore, fear, and worry, let’s create atmospheres of thanksgiving, joy, and peace to our world.

I’m kicking up the matter of God’s abundance to us through His creation that includes pumpkins and spice and everything nice. I am grateful for God’s goodness to us and speaking about these upcoming precious and meaningful times with family and friends.

I’m kicking up peace on earth, goodwill to men AND women. How about you?