I had this idea for Poetry Club this year that we would do our best to Spread the Word of Poetry and love and beautiful words. And I think the lesson that needs to be taught more and more today is the fact that the simple act of giving is one of the most wonderful acts. 

With 11 great pumpkins rumbling in my car on the way to work, my mind went back to the scene where Linus is waiting for the Great Pumpkin shivering all by himself. You wonder if those individuals who never recieve gifts or are given compliments that are few and far between if they feel a bit like Linus-lonely, hopeless and cold. And yet you have to respect Linus because he gives up his Tricks-or-Treats and his candy apples and gum in the hopes that he could receive this greater gift. And though he seems ridiculous in the movie, he is one of the only characters who holds that amount of strength and confidence and hope. 

The arrival of the pumpkins into the classroom was almost like anticipated arrival of that Great Pumpkin. It was unexpected but beautiful. Full of anticipation and thoughts of writing words to loving teachers and staff. The students created and painted and could not wait to deliver a personalized pumpkin into the pumpkin patch of life. Life is the vines of the pumpkin that spiral and turn and become tangled amongst the feet of many. With creases and folds, bumps and bruises and sometimes hopes mishapen, wecome to recognize that just anticipating an arrival of something good can allow us to arrive at something good too. Something good. Something whimsical. Something pumpkin.