It's the Great Pumpkin, Kid Ecto!

Nothing says fall like a farmer putting down his salt-pellet-firing shotgun and opening up his private property to the local urban community. Instead of being fired upon for trespassing, visitors are welcome to trade green paper currency for orange organic vegetables. 

Look at that lense flare! J.J. would be proud. A lot of families have traditions surrounding Halloween and pumpkins, I'm sure. Going to an actual farm where there are other activities to draw you in like corn mazes just to grab a pumpkin seems to have developed within the last 10 years or so in America. I think there are at least 4 Crazy corn mazes within a 5 mile radius of my house. 

In the 80's and early 90's we would run over to the local grocery store to get a pumpkin. There was no pageantry surrounding it. My mom and dad weren't trying to polish the turd that was taking me and my constantly fighting younger brothers to pick out a pumpkin that we would carve, then days later have smashed on our porch. The event wasn't getting the pumpkin. The event was carving it. 

Not only did we go to the local patch that has a corn maze, but it also had Mater from Disney's Cars as well as a hay ride on the back of a tractor. 

More lense flare. I'm available, Hollywood. I love how it is now with so much extra sensory overload. So many things to do to turn the mundane task into an event. Makes it more fun. We used to just carve the best faces we could draw into our pumpkins. If I could nail the design of the McBoo pail, I was happy. 

Now, thanks to sites like ZombiePumpkins.com, if I want Slimer on my pumpkin I can have him!

What memories do you have of the Raiders of the Lost Ark-like adventures of getting your pumpkin? What about carving stories? Leave them in the comments below.