It was a dark and spooky night, indeed! Looking out our window on Halloween, we found the spirits of Bad Kitty and Fire Face staring back at us.
The polls are closed; the ballot box stuffed; the votes counted. Bad Kitty is the winner! “I think you knew that most of your followers were cat lovers,” Peggy sniffed. “It’s going to be Indian food,” I crowed, already tasting hot lamb curry.
But Fire Face had his fans. And lest you feel too much sympathy for my highly competitive, ever-lovely wife, let me note that she has beaten me far more frequently than I have beaten her over our years of pumpkin carving competition! She’ll be back next year and “Watch out, Curt!”
Bad Kitty and Fire Face outside on our patio table.
Here’s what some of you had to say…
Animal Couriers: “Oh, you know us, it has to be pumpkin number 2! They are both fab.”
Dave Ply: “As for my choice, both are excellent, it’s a tough call, but as I’m a cat guy I have to go with scary kitty. (I always used to have black cats)”
Linda: “Despite the fact that I live with a creature I currently refer to as the Devil Cat, I’m going to have to go with Number 1 — with this caveat. I don’t see the carving as fire, but as autumn leaves.”
Christie: “I would vote with Bad Kitty, and only because this looks like a reminiscence of Demon”
Andrew: “My favourite pumpkin carving has to be no. 2 – but only by a whisker!”
Dave Kingsbury: “Fire Face made me feel uneasy but I was even more discomforted by Bad Kitty’s expression so the latter gets my vote. But well done both!”
Phil: “Fire Face is very cross-quarter day, but the artistry of Bad Kitty is hard to resist.”
Rebel Girl: “Fire Face all the way!”
Alison: “With trepidation, not wanting to offend either of you, I choose Bad Kitty!”
You can see what Peggy meant by cat lovers. (grin) Take Animal Couriers, for example, they make their living by transporting cats and dogs throughout Europe!
Peggy and I thank you for your participation. We had a lot of fun with the carving and the competition. And, as part of my Halloween series, I was pleased to bring you a glimpse of the incredible Jack-o-Lantern Spectacular of Providence, Rhode Island.
Correction: One of my friends pointed out that it is Linus not Charlie Brown that believes in the Great Pumpkin, which I incorrectly stated in my last post. Thanks!
LATE BREAKING NEWS: Scary Cat Becomes Scaredy Cat; Ground Squirrel De-fangs Bad Kitty
It was inevitable, or make that, highly edible. It was simply a matter of time before the wildlife around our area decided that the scariness of our pumpkins was outweighed by their resemblance to lunch. Deer have stopped by several times to stare at the pumpkins and warily circle them. They are endlessly curious about new things and have a written in stone philosophy: If it tastes good eat it. The fierce way the pumpkins glared at them, however, made our hoofed friends reluctant to take the first bite.
A ground squirrel had no such trepidation. It had already discovered that pumpkin was good-by meticulously picking out all of the seeds from the mishmash of pumpkin innards that Peggy had left outside for woodland creatures. It only required a leap of the imagination to hop up on our patio table and start chowing down on Bad Kitty’s teeth. I couldn’t catch the culprit in action, but when I questioned her later, she had pumpkin on her breath. There is a photo of the results below the curious deer.
All attention, a black tail doe stares at the pumpkins while trying to decide whether she will brave their stares and try a nibble, or stick with the thorny rose bushes beside her. She stuck with the rose bushes.
Alas, Bad Kitty, looking a bit worse for wear, has had his teeth pulled by a rapacious ground squirrel.
Where to next: Peggy and I will soon be heading for the north coast of Oregon and the south coast of Washington to celebrate our 25th Anniversary. There will be lots to share ranging from wintry ocean scenes, to colorful coastal towns, to a bridge that a young Kurt Cobain hid out under, to the land where vampires and werewolves wandered in the Twilight series. But that’s a couple of weeks off. In the meantime, I’ll slip in more of my petroglyph series, starting with Lava Beds National Monument in north-eastern California.
Wandering through Time and Place 