The Pumpkin Man Cometh...........

You know you meet people in your life and for some reason ......... regardless of the years, the miles, your experiences ........ you are friends for life.

I'm very very lucky to have lots of very special friends. Debbie and Nancy and I have been friends since first grade. Cyn and I have been friends since college ..... she has been through every up and down moment of my life. She knows me better than I know myself. And she still likes me!!! Go figure!!!

Then there is the Pumpkin Man. Pumpkin Man says that we have been friends for 35 years. He is wrong!! That is not possible!! Particularly since I am only 32 .. 33 ..... maybe, 34. Something like that. (And my drivers license says that I weigh 105 pounds!) But we both agree that we hadn't seen each other in 25 years.

So it was fun when he dropped a note .... saying that he was going to be in Moline, visiting the John Deere Pavillion and wondered if I had time for a cup of coffee.

Well, no upstanding Iowa farm wife would just meet for a cup of coffee. Its supper time on the west bank of the Mississippi!!! Midwest hospitality oozes out of Iowa and this household is no different.

So the Pumpkin Man got to meet my darling Honey, eat some good Iowa pork and tour Miss Effie's in the dead of winter. Not much to see there!!!!! Nothing like glistening snow on dead zinnias!!!

But I learned a lot. The Pumpkin Man is one of the original innovators of the agri-entertainment industry. So we compared victories, mistakes and frustrations. My business is very small -- his is quite large. But we both do battle with weeds, worry about customers injuries and fight local and state regulations in a industry that few politicians understand. We are farms that are dependent on happy customers and their referrals.

We had a fun evening. Honey got to meet a good friend of mine. And I got a cool piece of yard art for my barn! We all know how much I like rusty things. I think its a hoot!

So, Pumpkin Man ..... don't wait another 25 years to show up for a visit. The zinnias may not be the only thing that is dead by then!!!!