Great Gourds!

Boo!  It is that time of the year again.  Ghosts, ghouls and goblins are anticipating an invasion into our neighborhoods. But it is also a gentler time of year, when the heat of the summer dissolves into the cooler breezes of fall. 

This annual change of seasons is accompanied by a sensation of jealousy for me. You see, I have always been one of the less coordinated individuals who have difficulty cutting a straight line.  I was never a true success at arts and crafts.

Therefore, I have long admired those insanely patient and creative individuals who painstakingly retrieve an extremely sharp cutting utensil from their kitchen draw and sculpt an ordinary pumpkin into a museum worthy sculpture.

If pumpkin carving were to become an Olympic event, then these purposeful artists would all receive gold medals. Alas, attempting to rise above the triangle eyes, whenever I engage in the carving one of these orange marvels simply results in disaster.

But my cousin, Monica, aspired to become a master at the art of pumpkin carving. She would not surrender to the frustration of cutting symmetrical eyes.  Having viewed dramatic 3-D pumpkins on the internet and the talk shows, everywhere she became more determined to slice her way to greatness.

Monica was (is) a teacher and persistently endeavored to impress her classroom with stunning organic creations during the fall season.

So she devoted herself to scrutinizing Martha Stewart videos with step by step, detailed commands for each movement of the knife. She followed Ms. Steward every movement from hollowing out the round orange mass to carving the meticulous features. Monica’s supermarket was often stunned by the number of pumpkins she would purchased over the course of the season.

Her fortitude, grit and resolve never waned.  You Tube videos became her nighttime companion and her garbage disposal overflowed and with the stringy flesh from the guts of the fruit. After two continuous and non-stop years of trial and mostly error, Monica succeeded in whittling a Halloween masterpiece.  Her friends and our family were speechless and flabbergasted over the dazzling result.

Now, each year she rewards two students in her grade who have achieved perfect attendance with an accurate depiction of their profiles preserved in a pumpkin sculpture.

This tale is a drawn-out lesson to all of us that no matter what our job is, just by taking the time to follow our passion, we can incorporate our dreams into our employment. Monster.com is also a master of their domain.  The longevity of this global job search website is a clear indication of their ability to match employers and individuals for long-term success.