Pumpkin Carving

Ten Things I learned While Carving a 102lb Pumpkin:

1. The walls of such a pumpkin are over six inches thick.
2. There is a surprising lack of seeds and 'goo' inside.
3. Children are even LESS interested, on the whole, about scooping out a large pumpkin than they are in scooping out a smallish pumpkin.
4. I've come to realize that it's a pumpkin until the first face cut is made. Then it becomes a jack o'lantern.
5. One can use an iPhone to research the probability of raising pumpkins next year using the seeds from this year's pumpkin...in real time.
   
6. There is no practical way (within my skill set, anyway) to carve a detailed design on the face of a six-inch-thick jack o'lantern. Beyond a certain size, it's best to revert back to traditional, simple, geometrical faces.
7. No amount of loving encouragement from my wife can change the realties of #6.
   
8. One single candle still lights up the entire inside of a huge jack o'lantern.
9. Pumpkin carving parties are still as much fun as I remember.
10. I really like our friends. And their children.
    

I am learning to share the bounty of helping. I don't have to do it
all. There are areas that definitely require my specific skills. In
other areas, let someone else who's skillful do a better job. Manage
your resources, in other words. This is true for me at home; this is true for me at work.