Pumpkins

Not pumpkin spice. Some think there is just too much of that. This is just pumpkins. But much like pumpkin spice, pumpkins are ubiquitous right now. These marvelous round things are native to Central America and Mexico.

The pumpkin was one of the first plants grown for human consumption some 7,500 years ago. Along with the fruit, the flowers, and the leaves are also edible.

And now it has come to mean so much to some of us. A symbol of the passing year. Halloween approaching. Thanksgiving. Something to paint on the side of a boulder. A way for art students to express themselves.

Something for decorators and foodies to play with. Discover new varieties.

Something to bring glee to some of us when we have our very own personal pumpkin.

Something for some of us to lose our heads over as the other pumpkins pedal by.

I have my favorite pumpkins. Right up very close to the top of the list are pumpkins with twisted stems. Very important for them to have twisted stems. It adds such character.

But at the absolute top of the list are pumpkins covered in snow.

Snow on pumpkins just screams perfection.

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Marbled Orb Weaver

They seem to arrive every year at this time. Just when I’m thinking about the grand holiday. Halloween. It’s as if they know I want my porches decorated for the big day.

Dressed in an appropriate outfit for the season. Bright yellow and black coveralls complimented with long striped stockings of orange, black and white. Marbled Orb Weaver (Araneus marmoreus). This photo, above, the female. The photo, below, the male.

Seldom seen, male Marbled Orb Weavers are smaller than females. For the most part the males do not spin webs, but roam hunting for potential mates. 

As summer is waning the female lays her eggs, enclosing them in loose, fluffy sacs made from her silk. With a lifespan of approximately 6 months the spiderlings that emerge from their eggs in the spring will be on their own to fend for themselves. And the cycle continues.

And their webs. A creation a student of geometry or an artist would be proud to place their name upon.

How on Earth?

How in the world do they know how to create such beauty? Surely beauty is not their aim. But still, beauty to my eyes.