The pumpkin

Posted on October 28, 2025

What better way to celebrate halloween then by carving out a pumpkin. Unlike the United States, we don’t really celebrate halloween as much in Europe in general. After finding the perfect specimen at the local garden center, we brought it home.

    “You take the top of, scoop it all out, carve the thingy on there you want and then you put the top back… type shit” says Eve.
Type shit. It has become a running joke. Anything can be “type shit”. This is a blog, type shit. I watch as she awkwardly scrapes the pumpkin intestines out with a plastic scoop that was included in the “Carve your own pumpkin” set that we bought a week ago.

    “Maybe use a spoon” I say.
    “Oh probably.”
I hand her the spoon and watch her continue the awkward extraction of the pumpkin’s guts.
    “It’s so squishy!” I say.
    “Look at it! It’s just kinda like an orange jungle full of mess. My hand is starting to hurt”
I watch her take out another scoop.
    “Want me to take over?” I ask.
    “Go for it”
We swap back and forth a few times. Every time we get a little closer to removing all the innards. Then suddenly, it is done.

    “Now you can draw the design on it, and I will cut it out” says Eve.
I wasn’t prepared for that. I had never carved a pumpkin before. Neither did Eve for that matter, so maybe it didn’t matter. But this was quite an expensive pumpkin. I don’t want to ruin it, so I turn to google. It doesn’t take long until I find a whole variety of designs.
    “We can go for a serious or a funny one. What if we put a different design on the front and the back? That way we have both.” I say, looking at a particularly funny looking pumpkin on my phone’s screen.
    “Go for it”
I grab a pen and try to draw on the pumpkin. It doesn’t work. I grab the little cutting tool that came with the “Carve your own pumpkin” set and gently indent the general shape of a traditional pumpkin with mean eyes and a big grin.
    “Something like this maybe” I say
I watch as Eve begins cutting away at my carefully laid out plans, hoping I didn’t draw something too wonky.
    “There. Like that” says Eve
It actually worked. It actually looks really cool. I grab the little tool and clean away some of the mess left around the cuts. I turn the pumpkin around and begin planning the funny one. I carve out two large holes for eyes and a happy mouth right below it.
    “It needs a candle” I say.
I insert three candles and light them. I turn the lights of. The room fills with laughter.
    “That looks amazing!” I say.
    “Yea!”