Did you know that pumpkins are a fruit? Actually, a berry called a pepo because they contain seeds and develop from a flower.

I sometimes wonder what those first Europeans thought as they rampage through what would become the Americas when they discovered the indigenous folks cultivating those eye-catching orange gourds, a habit the locals had been practicing for about 9,000 years. In fact, those marauders didn’t even have a name for the hue pumpkins sported. It wasn’t until the 16^th century, after the Portuguese introduced oranges to Europe, that “orange” become an officially recognized color.

All that said, this is the pumpkin time of year so their presence invades many aspects of our lives. First, we add them to our diet: pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, pumpkin soup, pumpkin ravioli—yes, it’s a thing—pumpkin seeds, and the ubiquitous pumpkin spice latte, to name a few.

The good news is pumpkins are a healthy addition to one’s diet, discounting all that lovely butter, sugar, and cream we sometimes combine it with. Here’s what my AI friend told me: “Pumpkins are very good for you, offering a range of health benefits due to their high content of vitamins A, C, and E, fiber, and antioxidants like beta-carotene. These nutrients support vision, immune function, heart health, and healthy digestion, while the low-calorie, high-water content makes them excellent for weight management. Pumpkin seeds also provide beneficial fats, protein, fiber, and minerals.”  

But pumpkins as food is not enough. We so love our pumpkins we add their sweet-spicy-earthy smell to candles and soaps and face creams. And we hold pumpkin contests where we build contraptions to see who can hurl one the farthest and others where the point is to grow the most gigantic pumpkin possible, some of which approach 3,000 pounds.

But, best of all, it is the pumpkin that signals Halloween. Note here that my ancient Celtic ancestors originated the jack-o-lantern thing, even though there were no pumpkins in Ireland. Those people were forced to carve faces into potatoes and turnips, which couldn’t have been easy, so imagine their delight upon meeting a pumpkin, which improved those jack-o-lanterns exponentially.

It’s probably no surprise that as a descendant of all those red-headed revelers Halloween has always been my favorite holiday. Though I was never very skilled at carving, I was enthusiastic, which had me cutting a lot of those little guys for the big day. When the kids were at home and not quite so grown up, we made a party with all those pumpkins. We even built a pumpkin man called Bob, that frequently freaked out the local children.

The point is, no matter what you do with pumpkins, it’s clear many of us find them adorable. So here’s to the pumpkin! May it ever color our lives.

Wolf Catcher

Anne Montgomery

Historical Fiction

In 1939, archeologists uncovered a tomb at the Northern Arizona site called Ridge Ruin. The man, bedecked in fine turquoise jewelry and intricate bead work, was surrounded by wooden swords with handles carved into animal hooves and human hands. The Hopi workers stepped back from the grave, knowing what the Moochiwimi sticks meant. This man, buried nine hundred years earlier, was a magician.

Former television journalist Kate Butler hangs on to her investigative reporting career by writing freelance magazine articles. Her research on The Magician shows he bore some European facial characteristics and physical qualities that made him different from the people who buried him. Her quest to discover The Magician’s origin carries her back to a time when the high desert world was shattered by the birth of a volcano and into the present-day dangers of archeological looting where black market sales of antiquities can lead to murder.

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Anne Montgomery’s novels can be found wherever books are sold.

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