I took the time last week to go, with my wife, to the pumpkin patch owned by the Fawcetts.
Neither of us had ever been to the Fawcett farm or their pumpkin patch before so traveling through those dark woods was a little ominous. It definitely felt like October with the dense patches of fog and stark trees providing the first clues.
But once you get past the house with the chainsaw address sign the dark woods are beautiful in a gloomy kind of way reminiscent of Sleepy Hollow. It reminds us both of our hometown where the fog rolls onto dark green hillsides and covers everything in a funereal haze.
Bonnie Fawcett, a kind and gentle woman at the end of the trip, was there to greet us in the early morning gloom but since the frost had only just lifted, it being about 10:30 in the morning, the pumpkins weren’t ready to be displayed.
So we came back after about three hours and made the trip past the chainsaw sign again, all while looking out for any mass murderers. We met Bonnie Fawcett again in the building set up for the autumn displays.
Inside, the Fawcetts have set up a beautiful arrangement of fall colours and atmospheric music played while our host busied herself behind the counter of cookies and treats.
Our host felt so bad about turning us away earlier that morning, she made sure we both had cookies and spent a fair amount of time by the heat.
It was great to see the orange and black setting provided by the region and to pick out our pumpkin from the rows set up there. The patch looks down on a valley with a thick patch of trees covering the edge of a carpet of fog.
I encourage everyone to get up there and pick out their carving pumpkin this year. Wagon rides can also be arranged if booked in advance.
