Jack-o-lanterns

The kids had to take a pumpkin to school this week. Any size, any kind. Some kind of science project. I picked up the neighbor's kid and his pumpkin, and drove them all in this morning. Maisie's pumpkin was small and green and smooth. Grant's was tall and narrow with a long stem and bumps reminiscent of the worst skin disease all over it. Liam picked the classic pumpkin.

I didn't sleep much last night, and I'm in a pensive mode. "They're all different. What is it about them that makes you know they're pumpkins?" They go through the list: color, shape, texture--none of which any three pumpkins have in common. Grant sighs. Liam groans. "You just know, Mom," Maisie finally says, following a whole host of dead philosophers-at-the-end-of-their-ropes/caves. You just know. Move on.