Back in October, we placed our plump, firm and shiny new pumpkin on the front porch, where it greeted everyone who graced our door. I'd purchased it around the middle of the month at the Winco on Northtowne Lane.
It greeted trick-or-treaters on the evening of Oct. 31, and, as the weeks wore on, it became clear the uncarved beauty would serve us well into Harvest season and Thanksgiving.
Then, the first snow came and the Great Pumpkin hadn't budged. It also had aged quite nicely, I have to say. A fine sheen of frost covered it every morning, and all I had to do was brush off the occasional bit of snow or ice.
So now we find ourselves a week before Christmas and the Great Pumpkin is still there. Unbothered, unfettered, a silent sentinel warning that if you come into this house, you need to understand one thing - our gourds don't mess around.
Now I'm determined to see how long it'll last. Pretty shortly, as it ages, I'll move it to the back yard, but I'll send photo updates documenting the pumpkin's inevitable decline.
Reno blogger James Ball was born in 1973 and raised in North Georgia, attending the University of Georgia in Athens. He and his wife, Pam, moved to Lake Tahoe in 1995, eventually settling in Reno in the early 2000s. They live in Northwest Reno with their two boys, Thomas and Alex. James is a web editor at the Reno Gazette-Journal.
I think we should take bets on how long it will last....