finding beauty where I least expected it....

I should begin by saying I hate to be scared.  I'm the biggest chicken, I will totally admit it.  I avoid haunted houses. I avoid scary movies.  I find it ironic that I love forgotten places, because some can have a creepy or scary side to them.  I avoid those at all costs, so I surprised myself a bit when I discovered the beauty of old cemeteries. I don't find them creepy or scary, just forgotten beautiful places.

When I visited New Orleans, I knew I needed to see the cemeteries there. I had heard how beautiful they were, and I wasn't disappointed. They were amazing.  Unfortunately, that was back in my film days, so I will need to scan some of those photos to share with you.  Since then, I have found a few others that although they are very different from what we saw in New Orleans, they were still beautiful in their own ways.

We found this cemetery on a trip to Maine, and were told it was one of the oldest in the city (dating back over 300 years).  It was beautiful, and somehow forgotten even though it sat between buildings in the middle of a city.

babysitting a 700 pound giant

This week I babysat a 700 pound giant.  Babysitting a giant pumpkin is both exciting and stressful!  I will begin by saying that I absolutely love having this opportunity. I love visiting the pumpkin patch every day. I love seeing the pumpkin grow. I love seeing the long gourds, and seeing them grow is so obvious from day to day.  It still is a little bit stressful, only because I don't want anything to go wrong while in my care. 

Day 1:

Day 4:
These are two of the smaller long gourds, but you can see they have definitely grown from the day 1 photo above.

This is the biggest long gourd on the plant and he keeps growing.

The giant pumpkin was pretty well protected from the elements, which is a good thing because we had the threat of a bad storm.  I was so worried when I heard that bad winds might be headed our way, but thankfully we avoided them.

Day 5:
It takes a giant plant to grow a giant pumpkin.  This is only part of the plant.

He is starting to turn more orange.  Can't wait to see how bright his color will be in October.

This giant was 36" at last measurement (the day before babysitting--Saturday).  He was measured again Friday, and he has reached 54"!

Although I am done babysitting these giants (unless, of course, they need me again--I will happily spend more time in the pumpkin patch) I will continue to visit often and photograph them as they grow.  I can't wait to show you all how big he gets over the next few weeks.

That's a LOT of pumpkin!

It's been about 10 days since my last visit to the pumpkin patch, and since this is prime pumpkin growing seasion, the change was enormous.  At my last visit, the giant pumpkin was weighing in at around 360 pounds.  In my absence, he gained over 200 pounds! He weighed in at 560 pounds 2 days prior (which means he was probably around 600 pounds in these photos).  Yes, you read that right---600 pounds of pumpkin!

His orange color is coming out more.  He comes from a line of pumpkins who have been bright orange, and looks like he will be just as bright as they were.

The gourds have started to grow, and they will grow quickly now. They are fun to watch because the difference is so obviously visable in every visit.  Ten days ago, this gourd was teeny.

Another hanging gourd starting to grow from the top of the trellis. 

I will be babysitting the pumpkin patch this week, so lots of pictures will follow in the next few days.