Tis the Season for... Pumpkins!

About a week and a half ago I was called abruptly into a meeting with my boss and our pumpkin patch/Christmas tree lot tenant.  I innocently gathered up my notepad and my pen and headed in expecting to take notes so that I could draft the leases needed for him to operate at the properties in Fresno and Clovis where he had been last year.  To my utter shock, I began taking notes on how my co-worker, husband and myself would be operating a pumpkin patch this year.  Nay, (yes, I said nay) how we would begin operating a pumpkin patch in about a week.  In it's most basic form it sounded simple.  Peddle Punkins... what could be easier.  Well, we are on day five of operation, after 7 days of planning and coordinating, and I can think of several thousand things that are more simple than organizing and operating a pumpkin patch.  I suppose that the operating of the pumpkin patch is fairly simple, but the preparation is incredibly trying.

Here's the Kids When it was Still Fun, On the First Night!

Fortunately, I have friends that have truly rallied around us and have pitched in however they could by lending us wagons, wheelbarrows, easy-ups, generators, tables, chairs, and children.  Yep, teenage boys are awesome, they are helpful and can carry a 70 lbs. pumpkin.  We've also had lots of friendly faces show up and buy their pumpkins from us.  Sure, it sounds crazy to take on this effort given our already full plate, but it's been fun too and I suspect that the real fun and excitement will truly begin as we get closer to Halloween.  It's been an adventure and I do like me some adventure.  Here are a few things that I've learned during my time as a punkin peddler:

1. My husband is a talented artist.  No really, he is and sadly, I was very surprised.  After fifteen years, one would hope a wife would know something like that.  But I know now and plan to take advantage of that gift.
2. Pumpkins are cool!  No really they are.  We have several varieties and as different as the varieties are, each individual pumpkin is unique too.    
3. Light towers are hard to come by less than a month before Halloween, especially with the fair going on.
4. Kids get tired of a pumpkin patch more quickly than you'd think.  After spending some SERIOUS amounts of time at the patch, my kids beg me to go home.  Though, I suspect their story will change when the slide, face painting and cotton candy is made available on Friday.
5. Facebook is not the master marketing tool I thought it was.  Even after blowing up Facebook about our Pumpkin Patch, I still have friends that don't know about it, who I see post regularly.  If that is you... it's ok.  I don't read every single post that floats down my screen either.  
6. A pumpkin patch is a wonderful place for a baby to really learn to walk.  The hay softens her fall and uneven ground challenges her ability, encouraging her to get better and stronger every day.  It's also a great excuse to buy baby, bedazzled combat boots.  Stylish and utilitarian.  Perfect.
7. Eating homemade food at home is a good thing.  Though convenient, sometimes all you want to do is eat food that wasn't passed through a window or over a counter... unless you have a cool pass-thru counter from your kitchen to your dining room like we do.  

Here's the Coraline Display for Taking Pictures

By the time Halloween actually arrives, I suspect that I will have had my fill of pumpkins and the festive fall season, but for now, I will enjoy inspecting pumpkins each day and deciding which is my favorite.  I will enjoy sitting and seeing Bubba's face peeking through the hole in the picture of Coraline, Wybie and Cat painted by my husband.  I will soak in this wonderful opportunity that few get, to actively participate in building family memories for friends and strangers alike.  To provide little patch of childhood for every customer that walks on the lot.  I mean, our family gets to help run a pumpkin patch!!  How cool is that!  Just more proof that my God is good and that He has planned good works for me to accomplish in this life.  How awesome that I get to meet so many people, make new friends and simply be kind to them!  Sometime I'll tell you about all of the other exciting adventures I've experienced without even leaving California... 

Have you ever been presented with an extraordinary opportunity that may have stretched your talents, but also expanded your horizons and opened your eyes to God's incomprehensible creativity when it comes to "Life Plans"?  Please, please share!  I love to read comments and promise to respond.