He did the smash…the pumpkin smash.  Yes, it was THAT day around here when the Jack’0’Lanterns and excess porch pumpkins are sacrificed in the woods for the neighborhood wildlife to enjoy and the seeds to hopefully germinate into pumpkins next year.  St. M was especially excited to use our trusty old ax we recently had sharpened at the local community hardware store.  These locals LOVE to see us coming, especially since we rarely know what to do or how to do it.  🙂  I do know how to sling an ax for firepit wood and survival; just ask the copperhead family I stumbled across last May…

St. M started the annual Pumpkin Smash over 20 years ago.  It’s the one day each autumn he feels especially outdoorsy and manly powerful enough to accomplish hard labor tasks our grandfathers did on farms on a daily basis (they are laughing at us).  After his massive shoulder surgery last year from the aftermath of the previous year’s deer attack (story for another day), this was the ONE activity he anxiously awaited to specifically test how well his recovered shoulder and range of motion were functioning.  We both got in the yard, raking leaves, slinging pine straw mulch, planting bulbs, smashing pumpkins, and sweating in the chilled air to “winterize the land.”  I know; you’re laughing out loud just visualizing us, huh?!

While we may not be naturals in the wilderness (other than appreciating it and hiking in it for fun), we  gratefully give ourselves credit for going beyond the comfort zone by trying and never giving up in attitude or effort.  We know and appreciate our strengths and weaknesses but never allow either of them to get in our way when a task must be completed.  Besides, there’s something gratefully cathartic about smashing pumpkins (and you should try it too).  So here’s your question on Day #35:

What’s something you are grateful to be able to do, but must carefully navigate outside your comfort zone to make it successful? 

Sometimes, it’s the simple thrill of hope and what may result quietly from doing tasks just beyond our standard reach…and here’s hoping we have more pumpkins to harvest and then smash next year, my friends.