Pumpkins...in July?

I love fall. It is the best season hands down. I love the beautiful leaves (especially the orange ones, as you will see below), the crisp weather that coaxes me into cardigans, the pumpkin spice lattes, the comfortable bikes rides, and the celebration of my glorious birth. Yet, it is not TRULY fall until I see pumpkins showing up in front of grocery stores. I have had a love affair with pumpkins since I was a child; I can't get enough of their orangey roundness. But something has happened this year that has thrown my seasonal clock out of whack. THIS happened:

Pumpkins in July? Does not compute.

I started pumpkin seeds in the apartment after we had decided to buy our house. We went away for a few days to visit a friend in Ohio, and when I came back...BAM! A pumpkin sprout had punched a chunk a dirt out of the way and was greedily taking in the sunlight. By the time we moved in the house, the pumpkin plants were becoming so tall that they couldn't hold themselves up anymore. After I cleaned up the garden space, I immediately transferred the pumpkins to their new home. They went crazy! I had no idea how much space they could take up.

"Watch out!" says that tomato plant. (If you haven't seen the Honeybadger video, this comment isn't funny to you. Also, get some culture.)

Kansas has been unseasonably warm (which is why those leaves are so droopy, don't judge) which has caused a lot of crops to show up earlier than usual. My pumpkins have been no exception. As of last week, I have picked THREE pumpkins. THREE! And they aren't even advertising pumpkin spices lattes yet...

Needless to say, I'm experiencing an existential crisis that only a person who is just teaching one online class this summer (and mostly watching Korean romantic comedies) could have. Pumpkins used to bring me so much joy, but outside of fall, they seem out of place. I even question if I'll grow them next year because I've taken away the need to go to a pumpkin patch, an annual tradition for my husband and me. But on the less emo side, it was fun to see them grow, and I know they will last and be beautiful until Halloween and beyond. You might be thinking, "Can't she just put them in her basement until fall?" The answer is no. That's sad. 

Until fall comes, I'll just have to appreciate the pumpkins and find something to pass the time.......

The many things in my kitchen that are orange, i.e., passing the time.