Friday, October 29, 2021 (November’s full moon [“Beaver”] will rise on the 19th.)
I decided to “cut” a whole pumpkin by hammering it open. Using both hands and weilding a four-pound hammer, I slammed iron against globe repeatedly, to little avail. The job made me weary, sweaty, and very frustrated. Finally, I knocked a piece off the top (stem side) and let that be a win. I set the weird bowl out for the chickens and goats.
Hours later, I found they’d consumed every seed and fiber, even had eaten down the sides. What remained appeared an almost-perfect bowl for soup or salad. I used a box-cutter to score the bowl’s sides, before plunging the cutter again and more deeply. That bowl easily snapped into pieces perfect for the horses and donkey.
Today, waiting for the animals is another whole pumpkin. For this round of cutting and on the advice of friends, I’m better armed. My brand-new folding saw is fine-toothed, serrated, and frankly, almost vicious-looking.
A reader, whom I know is in-the-know, advises that grocery stores carry pumpkin-cutting kits, says they contain a serrated tool that eases the cutting. If my new folding saw doesn’t help, I’ll search for a kit.
I pause to ask myself, why such a fuss over pumpkin cutting?
There are good reasons. Raw pumpkin is a treat welcomed by farm animals. Whole pumpkins easily available are inexpensive. What’s good for people is the prettiness, and what’s good for animals are those fiber-and-seed fillings.
Perhaps my obsession toward “winning the cutting” stems less from logic than to satisfy OCD tendencies. Sigh, “Tis the sport [to be hoisted] with [my] own petard”.
Dear Friends: Anyway, it’s all fun, and way tops obsessing about politics and the economy. Diana
Diana's Morning Blog 