Today, I went searching for a few harvest pumpkins and gourds, which are currently being picked by the local farmers. There are plenty to go around, but they are being picked little by little - most are still in the fields curing. By curing, of course, I mean they are still in the ripening stage. The pumpkin is harvested when the color is uniform and the rind is hard. The farmers watch the weather for the nighttime lows now, although here in our area, we have been still having summer weather. But, all it takes is one hard frost to kill the vine. Once the vine dies, the fruit will no longer mature. Yes, they are a little dirty from the field, but, I promise you, they will be clean and pretty when they are ready to be sold.

I have to be honest with you. I think these large orange and green gourds are my absolute favorite.

Pumpkins are king at this time of year. They come in an assortment of colors - blue, green, yellow, white multi-colored and red. I am sure that I may be missing some. They can be tiny, oblong, squat, round, shaped like a pear, tall, and some so big they take a small crane to move. There are some that are better for carving, many, better for eating and then some are just pretty and are better for display.

When I was a child, the appearance of winter squash epitomized autumn: squash, pumpkins, and gourds. Glorious winter squash! Acorn squash, butternut squash, hubbard squash, spaghetti squash, cheese pumpkin, delicata squash, kabocha squash.

Admittedly, I love them for their seeds, so I pick a nice heavy one... On average, a medium-sized pumpkin will usually have about 1 cup of seeds that can be salted then, dried and roasted. Yummy!!!

An object of beauty is a delight, until the end of time, never passing into the vacuum of oblivion. Forever budding, until it blooms. Enchanting.

I hope you will join us as we share different markets. It has been such a pleasure to see markets from all over the world. Who doesn't love to see what they are selling? There is always a curiosity attached to foreign ingredients, different produce or any product sold. So, yes! I would love to see yours! So don't forget to take photos wherever you happen to be shopping - whether it be the grocery, art galleries, wherever money is exchanged for a service or for merchandise. Don't forget to use the hashtag #marketfriday and @dswigle.

Did you know that gourds are of different colors, shapes, and sizes? Farmers harvest them before frost- after the fruit is mature. As these gourds mature, the stems turn brown and dry up.

</

How to Participate:

1. Go to the market! Any market will do! Food, Clothing, Plant or Animal, if you wish. You can go to the zoo or an art auction. Anywhere or anything that you pay money for a service. I once went to a nail salon.
2. Take pictures! Be creative (or not)
3. Tell us a little bit about the market, what brought you here?
4. Post the picture(s)
5. Don’t forget to hashtag it! #MarketFriday by @dswigle
6. Drop the link to your post here so I can easily find them

And just like that, this post is done. I hope you enjoyed your visit! As always, I want to thank you for taking the time to visit #MarketFriday!! Thank you for supporting the challenge! Have a most fabulous day! Cheers!!

Thank you for visiting my post 💖 Because of you, I come back to post again and again, I am encouraged by you, for the time you take to visit, comment or even upvote. For all of these reasons, I am eternally grateful. Don't ever forget what a wonderful world we live in, people. Let's hold hands around the globe and make this earth really spin. Some days, it is not as easy to see, how wonderful it really is. Kindness counts. Wherever you go, whatever you do.

they set my aunts house on fire
i cried the way women on tv do
folding at the middle
like a five pound note.
i called the boy who use to love me
tried to ‘okay’ my voice
i said hello
he said warsan, what’s wrong, what’s happened?

i’ve been praying,
and these are what my prayers look like;
dear god
i come from two countries
one is thirsty
the other is on fire
both need water.

later that night
i held an atlas in my lap
ran my fingers across the whole world
and whispered,
"where does it hurt?"
it answered,

"everywhere"
"everywhere"
"everywhere"

warsan shire