The Not-So-Great Pumpkin

My friend Susie K. hates mums.  Apparently, in New England, the minute the calendar says "First Day of Fall", buckets and pots of mums cover every porch, table and mailbox in Massachusetts.

It's not charming, it's monotonous.

I feel the same way about the crazy autumn pumpkin mania that sweeps the entire nation.

Starbucks has a pumpkin spice latte, IHOP has pumpkin pancakes, Italian restaurants have pumpkin gnocchi, risotto, spaghetti.  All the recipes on the internet and in magazines are for pumpkin-themed foods.  The seasonal candles are pumpkin spice.  

And there are so many other cozy fall flavors that could be celebrated!  

Maple.

Apple.

Rum.

Butterscotch.

Toffee.

It's not just the barrage of pumpkin products that drives me a little crazy, but also the insistence that I embrace it.  

Example:

(Coffee shop)

(NOT the one in Jordan)

"Hi! I'd like a short triple breve' with caramel flavoring, please."

"Sure.  We have Pumpkin-palooza, too..."

"REALLY? (little sarcastically said, maybe) I think I'll stick with the caramel, thanks."

"Do you want to try Pumpkin-palooza WITH the caramel?"

"No...I really just want the caramel.  No pumpkin anything in my coffee."

(And here's where the tone turns frantically insistant...)

"But Pumpkin-palooza is only here for a LIMITED TIME!!"

Thanks be to God.