I was struck, growing up, by those who took delight in being creative - in carving elaborate pumpkins as part of really getting into the fun of Halloween. But this was true as well for other Holidays or season activities, not just Halloween.
There were those as well who delighted in smashing pumpkins, knocking down ornamental scarecrows, and for other season knocking over snowmen, or smashing down the walls of snow forts. Even when these people themselves made something, they seemed to take greater delight in the destruction of their creation than in the creation itself.
A friend of mine, japete over on Commongunsense, wrote a post about the last video on this page. Many of her commenters extolled the joys of target shooting produce, watching bullets make the veg explode like the gore in video games.
Not long after japete wrote her blog post, I watched a delightful documentary on our local PBS, Lords of the Gourd: The Pursuit of Excellence. It is about the people who raise those giant pumpkins one sees featured in competitions around this time of year on the news. It is a creative endeavor, a subculture of agriculture.
Watch the videos below, as our treat from penigma to our readers, and contemplate the difference between those who delight in creating something, growing something, and those who delight in destruction and the means of destruction. I look at the guy with the gun 'carving' his pumpkin, and he seems to me a big dumb destructive jerk.
There were those as well who delighted in smashing pumpkins, knocking down ornamental scarecrows, and for other season knocking over snowmen, or smashing down the walls of snow forts. Even when these people themselves made something, they seemed to take greater delight in the destruction of their creation than in the creation itself.
A friend of mine, japete over on Commongunsense, wrote a post about the last video on this page. Many of her commenters extolled the joys of target shooting produce, watching bullets make the veg explode like the gore in video games.
Not long after japete wrote her blog post, I watched a delightful documentary on our local PBS, Lords of the Gourd: The Pursuit of Excellence. It is about the people who raise those giant pumpkins one sees featured in competitions around this time of year on the news. It is a creative endeavor, a subculture of agriculture.
Watch the videos below, as our treat from penigma to our readers, and contemplate the difference between those who delight in creating something, growing something, and those who delight in destruction and the means of destruction. I look at the guy with the gun 'carving' his pumpkin, and he seems to me a big dumb destructive jerk.
Watch Lords of the Gourd: The Pursuit of Excellence - Preview on PBS. See more from pbs.
But beyond that are the artists with the produce, who make it into works of seasonal art, however transitory.
But beyond that are the artists with the produce, who make it into works of seasonal art, however transitory.
I had to deal with a broken heart for the first time last year. My daughter loves doing creative things for the Winter holidays. Pumpkins, not only for Halloween, but also for Thanksgiving. Snowmen and snow forts in the Winter time. Last year, we built an elaborate Snow Family. Good replicas of her, Step mom, and myself. The next day on the way to school, she saw all of our hard work knocked over. Needless to say, there were some tears involved, as well as some explanations. Moments like that really make you put your own life, and past actions into perspective.
ReplyDeleteWe have a finite amount of time, energy, and other resources in our lives to be creative or destructive.
ReplyDeleteHow about some music from the group Smashing Pumpkins?
ReplyDelete