Still Growing

 

9/16/23 Maple Leaf neighborhood

Last October, Kate and I sketched Maple Leaf’s biggest pumpkin at the neighborhood’s most exciting event of the year. The two neighbors who had a friendly pumpkin competition then are growing more this year. With Halloween still more than a month away, the biggest one, Jack Skellington, already weighs 775 pounds! According to a sign nearby, Jack was planted on May 19 and pollinated on July 7. I plan to sketch him again at his peak, but on a recent walk, I decided Jack was already worth sketching.

As I sketched, the intoxicating scent of ripe grapes from the nearby vine filled the air. I heard rustling among the grape leaves, and a tiny mouse poked its head out. It was such a delightfully fall-ish scene that I embraced it fully with no remaining bittersweetness about summer’s end. Of course, it helped to be sketching in a T-shirt when it was 67 and sunny.

By the way, as any self-respecting pumpkin is, Jack Skellington is on Instagram.