Pumpkin Time

I'm happy to say that fall has officially arrived here in Central New York. I'm so in love with fall in New England that every October I long to just quit my job for an entire month and do nothing but soak up the brilliant colors of the trees, make pumpkin-flavored everything (pies, waffles, martinis, etc), pick apples, and wander around random corn fields. The first retreat I ever held was during mid-October in Vermont and the general atmosphere definitely contributed to my near-perfect memories of that weekend.

However, as much as I would like to live in the land of pumpkins and apples for eternity, I have to balance dreams with reality. And my reality lately is that we've been too busy until this weekend to even notice that fall was coming. The second reality? Air travel in America lately can really screw up the best laid plans. B. was supposed to arrive home from his business trip on Friday night, but never actually made it back until Saturday night. And I won't bore you with all of the pull-your-hair-out annoying details and flights and drama, but most of you have been there, so you know. Unfortunately, this not only canceled all of my cute fall-themed pumpkin activities for Saturday, it also left me at a house with no car, barely any groceries, and no computer. Ick.

So as soon as Sunday morning rolled around, I was determined to salvage some part of my pumpkin fantasies. We went to a pumpkin festival in the town over and it was a horrendous disaster. Partially due to the worst insulin breakdown my body has experienced in years, and partially due to the fact that I really overestimated what the festival would be like. The town we live in now is cute and sweet and a little fancy and throws amazing festivals - this was like a mini version of a state fair... with pumpkins. Not to sound like a horrible elitist, but there are only so many children on leashes, people without teeth but with bare midriffs, fried everything, and bad craft booths that I can take. And the clincher - bad caramel apples. I can forgive a lot, but not that. In the book of Scarlet Lily, that's the 11th commandment.

So we jumped ship from the festival and went to the tried and true Central New York favorite - Iron Kettle Farm. Simply bliss! Pumpkins everywhere, a petting zoo, a little haunted house, a hay ride, a corn maze - we did all of it. AND they have THE BEST caramel apples I have ever had in my entire life... ever. Last year, the woman told me that the chef's secret (in addition to making it from scratch) was that he used buttermilk. There are lots of pictures, but here are a few for your fall entertainment.

One of the things they do here is set up tons of displays using pumpkins. This is Peter Pan - notice the hay alligator and Tinkerbell in the tree. Peter is actually out of the picture because he is up on the mast.

My friend A. as a cow and me as a pig.

Mimicking the scared faces of Hansel & Gretel behind us.