Aging Pumpkins and Me

         I thought about calling this little tidbit Halloween Leftovers, but I think the Aging Pumpkin is a better fit.

         This year my jack-o-lantern had a pretty simple face. Just not in the mood for some exotic carving, although I thoroughly enjoyed the creativity exhibited by some of my fell carvers.

Mine had verticle oval eyes, with some eyelash affect in the corner, a curved up and down mouth, rather like the curves on the normal human face. I declined from giving it an open nose, somehow the vertical lines on the pumpkin's skin gave the feeling of the strip of nose at just the right place. This was unintentional but came to mind as I was wondering about the nose. Then I added a widow's peak at the proper place on the rim before placing the lid on top.  All done, I liked it, it shed the right amount of light when I lit the candle placed inside.

        The pumpkin decorated my kitchen cabinet for several days before it started to age. The eyes still looked out, but the lashes became crow's feet. The lovely curl of the lips, pulled inward and took on a rather shrunken appearance. That widow's peak was still in place, still serving as an accent, but it too was turning inward. There were wrinkles up and down the nose as it caved inward. But when I lit the candle it still shown, just a slightly puckered expression.

         Crazy mind that I have, as you may have noticed if you read things I write, I started seeing the aging of all of us in this carved jack-o-lantern. When I look in the mirror these days I see my own crow's feet, my mouth taking on a shape that I had not intended. The lines are turning into deeper and deeper wrinkles, as expected. The widow's peak is a swirl of shining white hair.

         However, the light in my pumpkin still shines, the face still smiles. I hope that my light still shines too, that my smile stays in place, even though not as full and plump as it was in years past. I hope the twinkle in my eyes tells people that this is still me, here, within the changing face.