WEBVTT 1 00:00:06.960 --> 00:00:12.759 The Church Factor, written by Neoma Finn. I used to 2 00:00:12.800 --> 00:00:16.000 love going to all those silly little festivals held in 3 00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:20.879 small towns and villages throughout the countryside, you know the ones. 4 00:00:21.199 --> 00:00:24.600 They're nearly always named after a fruit or a vegetable 5 00:00:24.760 --> 00:00:28.280 that grows in that part of the world. They consist 6 00:00:28.320 --> 00:00:31.920 of contests themed after the said fruit or vegetable, and 7 00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:34.560 food is baked with the same fruit or vegetable as 8 00:00:34.600 --> 00:00:37.799 the main ingredient. A few of them might be named 9 00:00:37.799 --> 00:00:40.920 after a flower or an animal, but they all involve 10 00:00:40.960 --> 00:00:44.960 the same types of activities, and they almost always culminate 11 00:00:45.159 --> 00:00:48.280 in a street dance. And I love those darn things. 12 00:00:49.359 --> 00:00:52.039 I'd get off work on Friday night and drive halfway 13 00:00:52.079 --> 00:00:54.880 across the country. If I had to, I'd spend the 14 00:00:54.960 --> 00:00:57.399 night nearby and do my best to be the first 15 00:00:57.439 --> 00:01:01.159 one to arrive the next morning. They were a piece 16 00:01:01.200 --> 00:01:06.439 of Americana that doesn't exist anymore, the epitome of wholesomeness 17 00:01:06.480 --> 00:01:09.079 and honor. And I loved them right up until the 18 00:01:09.159 --> 00:01:12.640 last one I went to. I was in my twenties 19 00:01:12.680 --> 00:01:16.040 back then and a bit reckless. It never occurred to 20 00:01:16.040 --> 00:01:18.560 me to tell anyone where I was going or when 21 00:01:18.599 --> 00:01:21.879 I would return, nor did it ever cross my mind 22 00:01:21.920 --> 00:01:25.640 to ask anyone to come with me. I can't count 23 00:01:25.680 --> 00:01:28.000 the times when I'd be watching a bunch of kids 24 00:01:28.120 --> 00:01:31.319 race each other on pedal tractors, or a group of 25 00:01:31.359 --> 00:01:34.079 adults with their hands tied behind their backs and their 26 00:01:34.120 --> 00:01:38.079 faces planted in plates of blueberry pie, and I think, 27 00:01:38.519 --> 00:01:41.439 you know, so and so would have really loved this, 28 00:01:42.519 --> 00:01:44.519 But by then I was there and it was too 29 00:01:44.599 --> 00:01:47.480 late to ask. I would have given my right arm 30 00:01:47.640 --> 00:01:49.560 if I had only asked a friend to go with 31 00:01:49.599 --> 00:01:54.400 me to this last festival. It was October, my favorite 32 00:01:54.439 --> 00:01:57.159 month of the year. In fact, it was my favorite 33 00:01:57.200 --> 00:02:01.239 day of the year, October twenty first. I had read 34 00:02:01.239 --> 00:02:04.879 somewhere about a pumpkin festival in a small town miles 35 00:02:04.920 --> 00:02:08.400 from anywhere that hosted the most amazing jack o lantern 36 00:02:08.479 --> 00:02:12.800 carvings anyone had ever seen. All day long. Aside from 37 00:02:12.840 --> 00:02:16.240 the traditional vendors and events that can be found at 38 00:02:16.280 --> 00:02:20.120 all of these types of festivals, people were invited to 39 00:02:20.159 --> 00:02:25.080 carve pumpkins alongside the villagers. Those who visited were always 40 00:02:25.159 --> 00:02:28.280 amateurs compared to the natives, but they were allowed to 41 00:02:28.400 --> 00:02:31.599 enter their jack o' lanterns in the parade that always 42 00:02:31.599 --> 00:02:36.240 took place after sunset. At that point, the car pumpkins 43 00:02:36.280 --> 00:02:40.240 would always be placed on hay racks pulled by Clydesdale's 44 00:02:40.280 --> 00:02:43.840 and Belgians, and everyone would get to see the artwork. 45 00:02:44.919 --> 00:02:48.400 There would be the normal array of costumed participants who 46 00:02:48.400 --> 00:02:51.639 threw candy out to the children, along with a variety 47 00:02:51.639 --> 00:02:55.919 of floats decorated to celebrate Halloween, which would be celebrated 48 00:02:56.000 --> 00:03:00.919 in Earnest less than a fortnight later. Meanwhile, pumpkin pies 49 00:03:00.960 --> 00:03:04.280 and pumpkin butter, and pumpkin bars and pumpkin anything else 50 00:03:04.319 --> 00:03:09.000 would be served from the booths, alongside apple cider, apple pies, 51 00:03:09.080 --> 00:03:13.560 apple crisps, and caramel apples. Sounded like heaven to me. 52 00:03:14.919 --> 00:03:18.800 I was surprised by how remote albert Landing was. We 53 00:03:18.800 --> 00:03:21.680 were in the last decades of the twentieth century by then, 54 00:03:21.800 --> 00:03:25.759 and most towns were either easily accessible via the interstate 55 00:03:26.400 --> 00:03:29.479 or at the very least a main highway, or they 56 00:03:29.520 --> 00:03:33.680 had become ghost towns. Neither was the case here. I 57 00:03:33.719 --> 00:03:36.319 had to find a county road that wasn't clearly marked 58 00:03:36.319 --> 00:03:39.719 and then turned down a one lane, unmarked blacktop. It 59 00:03:39.800 --> 00:03:43.159 took me four miles through winding hillsides before it came 60 00:03:43.199 --> 00:03:46.240 to a covered bridge, and even though I had left 61 00:03:46.240 --> 00:03:49.639 my hotel early, I didn't arrive until nearly ten am 62 00:03:49.759 --> 00:03:52.639 that day. I had to park my truck in a 63 00:03:52.719 --> 00:03:55.960 field and walk across the bridge. I doubt my truck 64 00:03:56.000 --> 00:03:58.199 would have made it through the bridge anyway, but a 65 00:03:58.240 --> 00:04:01.520 friendly man sitting in a launch by the road stopped 66 00:04:01.560 --> 00:04:03.319 me and let me know that there would be no 67 00:04:03.439 --> 00:04:06.639 place to park after I crossed the river. Well, I 68 00:04:06.719 --> 00:04:10.000 didn't mind. The bridge looked like something out of a postcard, 69 00:04:10.599 --> 00:04:13.599 and the river that flowed under it was almost magical. 70 00:04:14.199 --> 00:04:18.360 It was like walking into a Disney movie. The bridge 71 00:04:18.399 --> 00:04:22.839 was nothing short of a portal to another world. The 72 00:04:22.879 --> 00:04:27.120 citizens of Alberth Landing were awfully vested in their festival. 73 00:04:28.040 --> 00:04:30.519 Most of them, or maybe even all of them, were 74 00:04:30.639 --> 00:04:34.639 dressed in colonial American clothing, and each of the houses 75 00:04:34.639 --> 00:04:37.279 along the street had the appearance of being well over 76 00:04:37.319 --> 00:04:40.959 two hundred years old. A woman was standing in the 77 00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:44.480 sideyard of the first house I came to, casting grain 78 00:04:44.600 --> 00:04:47.639 to her Rhode Island red hens, and they were pecking 79 00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:51.680 at it hungrily. Another woman was sitting on her porch 80 00:04:51.839 --> 00:04:55.360 churning butter in an old fashioned butter churn, and the 81 00:04:55.439 --> 00:04:58.279 next property had an open sided shd where a man 82 00:04:58.439 --> 00:05:02.240 was practicing the art of black sss. The main part 83 00:05:02.240 --> 00:05:04.920 of town was positioned in the crook of the river, 84 00:05:05.079 --> 00:05:08.439 so that as the road I was walking on turned 85 00:05:08.439 --> 00:05:11.680 and became main street, it was taking me right to 86 00:05:11.759 --> 00:05:14.639 the river bank. Ahead of me, I could see a 87 00:05:14.720 --> 00:05:17.600 park where booths were set up to sell handmade and 88 00:05:17.720 --> 00:05:21.839 home baked items. Although I was certain I was on 89 00:05:21.879 --> 00:05:25.000 the main street, it was nothing to indicate a business 90 00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:28.040 district outside of four buildings where the road I was 91 00:05:28.079 --> 00:05:31.439 walking cross the only other road that didn't look like 92 00:05:31.480 --> 00:05:35.519 a cow path. The four buildings that stood on the 93 00:05:35.560 --> 00:05:39.560 four street corners struck me as odd. The first business 94 00:05:39.800 --> 00:05:43.439 was the post office. Despite being housed in a building 95 00:05:43.519 --> 00:05:46.399 that looked like it had stood since long before Paul 96 00:05:46.480 --> 00:05:49.920 Revere took up horseback riding, it had all the modern 97 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:53.759 day signage of the United States Postal Service in the windows. 98 00:05:54.720 --> 00:05:57.360 The signs looked out of place, but not nearly as 99 00:05:57.399 --> 00:06:00.439 inappropriate as the gas station across the road from it. 100 00:06:01.399 --> 00:06:05.439 The glass front and store windows full of signs advertising lottery, 101 00:06:05.480 --> 00:06:09.480 tickets and slurpies felt like a time traveler sent back 102 00:06:09.519 --> 00:06:12.079 from the future to warn the world of the hideous 103 00:06:12.079 --> 00:06:16.800 fate that awaited us. Opposite the post office, the catty 104 00:06:16.800 --> 00:06:19.120 corner from the gas station, was the only one of 105 00:06:19.199 --> 00:06:22.519 four buildings that appeared to fit in It was a tavern. 106 00:06:23.639 --> 00:06:26.279 Other than the paps blue ribbon sign in the front 107 00:06:26.319 --> 00:06:29.519 window that struggled to stay lit. It could have been 108 00:06:29.600 --> 00:06:32.720 an old inn, with bar maids wearing dust caps and 109 00:06:32.800 --> 00:06:36.879 patrons slashing down tankards of ale while they waited for 110 00:06:37.000 --> 00:06:39.720 fresh team of horses to be hitched to their coach. 111 00:06:40.839 --> 00:06:44.279 There was a certain comfort in that building, even with 112 00:06:44.360 --> 00:06:47.079 the flickering light. It felt as rooted as the oak 113 00:06:47.160 --> 00:06:50.519 trees that bordered the park ahead of me, And somehow 114 00:06:50.759 --> 00:06:54.480 the thought that it felt unnatural made me feel unnatural, 115 00:06:55.040 --> 00:06:59.040 as if I didn't belong there. A voice from somewhere 116 00:06:59.040 --> 00:07:02.040 deep inside me whispered that I should turn around and leave. 117 00:07:02.720 --> 00:07:05.439 And since that day, whenever that voice has spoken, no 118 00:07:05.480 --> 00:07:10.720 matter how quietly, I have listened and obeyed. But this day, however, 119 00:07:11.000 --> 00:07:15.079 I did not. It was the fourth and final structure 120 00:07:15.120 --> 00:07:18.759 at that intersection that was the most bizarre, because little 121 00:07:18.800 --> 00:07:22.240 festivals like this one put on by small towns everywhere 122 00:07:22.639 --> 00:07:25.879 had been a passion of mine for several years. I 123 00:07:25.920 --> 00:07:28.560 had seen my share of out of the way places 124 00:07:29.279 --> 00:07:33.600 like snowflakes. No two towns are exactly alike. It can 125 00:07:33.639 --> 00:07:36.480 feel like they are at times, but there is always 126 00:07:36.560 --> 00:07:39.920 something that will set each one apart. It may be 127 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:43.040 a flea market housed in an old gas station, or 128 00:07:43.079 --> 00:07:46.600 a specialty store where the town creative types make leather 129 00:07:46.680 --> 00:07:50.279 goods while the locals watch. Or maybe it's a house 130 00:07:50.319 --> 00:07:53.000 on a hilltop where the founders once lived, or a 131 00:07:53.040 --> 00:07:57.079 local cafe that serves a certain dish unmatched anywhere else. 132 00:07:57.800 --> 00:08:02.800 Or wherever it is, there is always likewise, there is 133 00:08:02.920 --> 00:08:05.519 one thing that every town of certain size has in 134 00:08:05.639 --> 00:08:09.639 common with every other town of that size. More appropriately, 135 00:08:09.839 --> 00:08:14.000 there are four things. While the typical blink and you'll 136 00:08:14.040 --> 00:08:16.920 miss it wide spot in the highway will certainly have 137 00:08:17.040 --> 00:08:20.360 only one or two of these. Any town large enough 138 00:08:20.399 --> 00:08:22.720 to form more than a few city blocks will have 139 00:08:22.759 --> 00:08:26.920 a post office, at least one gas station, one tavern, 140 00:08:27.240 --> 00:08:31.480 and one church, and many towns like this one will 141 00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:34.840 have all four at the same intersection. But where a 142 00:08:34.960 --> 00:08:37.960 church should have stood in this town was a big 143 00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:43.919 red barn. It was in immaculate condition. Not one board 144 00:08:44.039 --> 00:08:47.159 was out of place. It had a fresh coat of 145 00:08:47.240 --> 00:08:50.759 paint with a gleaming white trim, and the front consisted 146 00:08:50.799 --> 00:08:53.919 of a ground level set of doors that slid open 147 00:08:53.960 --> 00:08:57.000 along the wide metal track, directly under the set of 148 00:08:57.080 --> 00:09:00.519 loft doors, over which on a pulley foringing up the 149 00:09:00.600 --> 00:09:04.600 hay that would surely be stored there. Between the loft 150 00:09:04.600 --> 00:09:08.279 doors and the pulley was a gorgeously painted Amish heck 151 00:09:08.360 --> 00:09:12.639 sign in brilliant greens, blues and golds. Along the side 152 00:09:12.639 --> 00:09:15.480 that was visible to me were square windows that were 153 00:09:15.519 --> 00:09:18.879 closed off by hen shutters marked with a white trimmed 154 00:09:19.000 --> 00:09:22.919 axe pattern. The barn could have come straight out of 155 00:09:22.919 --> 00:09:27.799 a children's book. Despite its natural beauty, its location in 156 00:09:27.840 --> 00:09:30.440 the middle of town, right where I had expected a 157 00:09:30.559 --> 00:09:33.799 church to be was a bit unsettling. That there was 158 00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:36.159 a rope draped across the front doors with a sign 159 00:09:36.200 --> 00:09:40.799 that said no admittance didn't help. I made my way 160 00:09:40.840 --> 00:09:43.399 down to the park. I passed a man who was 161 00:09:43.440 --> 00:09:47.320 standing in front of a massive iron kettle making kettle corn, 162 00:09:47.480 --> 00:09:50.600 and whose wife was busy scooping the finished product into 163 00:09:50.639 --> 00:09:54.639 bags and labeling them. A woman was carting wool a 164 00:09:54.679 --> 00:09:57.399 few doors down in front of a yard full of 165 00:09:57.440 --> 00:10:01.519 tables loaded with baskets of yarn and wide variety of colors. 166 00:10:02.480 --> 00:10:05.440 Beyond that was a stand where a young couple was 167 00:10:05.480 --> 00:10:09.919 selling homemade root beer, the old fashioned carbonated by way 168 00:10:09.960 --> 00:10:13.679 of fermentation variety. I had to stop for a bottle. 169 00:10:14.799 --> 00:10:16.919 The closer I got to the park, the more there 170 00:10:16.960 --> 00:10:21.360 were people like me, dressed in twentieth century apparel. There 171 00:10:21.399 --> 00:10:23.879 was a family of four waiting in line so the 172 00:10:23.960 --> 00:10:26.919 kids could have a turn on the pony ride. A 173 00:10:26.960 --> 00:10:30.320 young couple obviously deeply in love, paid no attention to 174 00:10:30.360 --> 00:10:34.440 anything or anyone except each other, and older couples walked 175 00:10:34.440 --> 00:10:37.279 hand in hand, enjoying the memories of youth that must 176 00:10:37.279 --> 00:10:41.919 have been stirred by the nostalgia of the event. One lady, 177 00:10:42.080 --> 00:10:46.080 whose white roots were showing under her harshly dyed red hair, 178 00:10:46.799 --> 00:10:49.159 was holding up a quilt at a booth and telling 179 00:10:49.200 --> 00:10:52.399 the withered old man beside her how her grandmother had 180 00:10:52.399 --> 00:10:56.080 made a quilt using the same pattern and nearly identical 181 00:10:56.159 --> 00:10:59.320 colors for her when she was a little girl, and 182 00:11:00.360 --> 00:11:02.919 the man was already pulling out his wallet to purchase 183 00:11:02.960 --> 00:11:07.720 it for her. In nervous anticipation, she wiped her hands 184 00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:10.840 down the front of a gaudy white top with large 185 00:11:10.879 --> 00:11:14.840 turquoise flowers printed on it. Near the center of the 186 00:11:14.879 --> 00:11:19.080 park was where the real activity was taking place. Children 187 00:11:19.159 --> 00:11:24.320 were gathered around long makeshift tables and carving pumpkins. Adults 188 00:11:24.360 --> 00:11:27.600 walked all along the line and offered guidance wherever possible. 189 00:11:28.279 --> 00:11:31.960 Moms and dads cringed at the messes their children were making, 190 00:11:32.000 --> 00:11:37.440 before smiling brightly and congratulating them on their jobs well done. 191 00:11:37.519 --> 00:11:41.200 And then another adult dressed in appropriate period clothing would 192 00:11:41.279 --> 00:11:44.120 come along and direct them away from the table to 193 00:11:44.200 --> 00:11:48.480 a place where presumably the children could enter their masterpieces 194 00:11:48.480 --> 00:11:50.799 in the contest that was to be judged later in 195 00:11:50.840 --> 00:11:55.399 the afternoon. Now this was paradise. I couldn't believe how 196 00:11:55.440 --> 00:11:59.000 fortunate I was to have found such a festival. It 197 00:11:59.039 --> 00:12:03.679 was everything dreamed of. Booth after booth sold to items 198 00:12:03.720 --> 00:12:08.080 that had been made by hand and were surprisingly reasonably priced. 199 00:12:09.320 --> 00:12:11.759 Along the far edge of the park was a row 200 00:12:11.840 --> 00:12:15.360 of gaming booths where visitors were encouraged to try their 201 00:12:15.360 --> 00:12:18.919 hand at balloon darts, the duck pond and a ring toss. 202 00:12:19.919 --> 00:12:22.039 At the end of the boost was a dunk tank, 203 00:12:22.240 --> 00:12:25.720 where the town's mayre was perched precariously on a lever 204 00:12:25.840 --> 00:12:28.240 that would drop him into the water below if the 205 00:12:28.279 --> 00:12:32.200 person throwing the ball hit the target. Periodically, a man 206 00:12:32.320 --> 00:12:35.080 driving a horse drawn wagon would make his way through 207 00:12:35.080 --> 00:12:37.840 the crowd, with a handful of children sitting in the back, 208 00:12:38.399 --> 00:12:42.039 and another man towered over everyone on stilts hidden under 209 00:12:42.080 --> 00:12:45.440 extra long pant legs. I saw a tent with a 210 00:12:45.480 --> 00:12:49.200 sign that offered palm readings, beside another tint from which 211 00:12:49.240 --> 00:12:52.759 I could hear music. Now this wasn't the typical bar 212 00:12:52.799 --> 00:12:56.559 brown howling out of painful renditions of Lenyard skinnered songs, 213 00:12:56.679 --> 00:13:00.759 or making poor attempts at being Janis Joplin. The music 214 00:13:00.799 --> 00:13:05.000 from that tent was old beyond my memories. The melodies 215 00:13:05.039 --> 00:13:11.159 were both familiar and strange, alluring and menacing. I visited 216 00:13:11.240 --> 00:13:15.039 every booth and examined every piece of merchandise, and purchased 217 00:13:15.120 --> 00:13:18.159 more than I could comfortably carry, and I ate more 218 00:13:18.200 --> 00:13:21.639 than my stomach had room for. I visited the game 219 00:13:21.679 --> 00:13:24.759 booths and took a shot at dunking the mayor before 220 00:13:24.799 --> 00:13:28.480 winning a stuff bear at the ring tossed. My legs 221 00:13:28.519 --> 00:13:31.159 ached and my arms were loaded down By the time 222 00:13:31.200 --> 00:13:33.399 I made my way back over to where the children 223 00:13:33.440 --> 00:13:38.360 were carving pumpkins, more and more adults were taking seats 224 00:13:38.399 --> 00:13:41.320 at the table and trying their hand at carving. A 225 00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:43.639 young girl approached me and asked if I'd like to 226 00:13:43.639 --> 00:13:46.639 buy a pumpkin to carve. I was young, and my 227 00:13:46.799 --> 00:13:50.279 job paid well, and my bills were paid. I wasn't married, 228 00:13:50.279 --> 00:13:53.600 and I had no children. This was what money was 229 00:13:53.679 --> 00:13:57.440 made for. I thought, yes, please, I said. A letter 230 00:13:57.559 --> 00:14:00.440 lead me to an empty spot at the table, and 231 00:14:00.480 --> 00:14:03.120 someone held open a bag and suggested I put my 232 00:14:03.200 --> 00:14:06.080 merchandise sent it and set it under the table, and 233 00:14:06.120 --> 00:14:10.639 I obediently did as I was instructed. The young girl 234 00:14:10.679 --> 00:14:14.039 brought me a tall pumpkin and took my payment. She 235 00:14:14.200 --> 00:14:18.000 pointed out the carving instructions in jaws in front of 236 00:14:18.000 --> 00:14:21.279 me and asked if I needed any help. I assured 237 00:14:21.320 --> 00:14:23.559 her that I was an old hand at this, and 238 00:14:23.600 --> 00:14:25.960 I thanked her before she went off to find someone 239 00:14:26.039 --> 00:14:29.480 to fill the empty spot beside me. I had already 240 00:14:29.519 --> 00:14:32.159 cut open the top of my pumpkin and was scooping 241 00:14:32.159 --> 00:14:35.320 out the seeds when the lady with the garnish red 242 00:14:35.440 --> 00:14:39.720 hair sat down beside me. She flashed me a tobacco 243 00:14:39.960 --> 00:14:44.039 stained grin through lips stained with a bright pink lipstick 244 00:14:44.240 --> 00:14:48.000 that was bleeding down the creases of her mouth. Hazel, 245 00:14:48.399 --> 00:14:52.320 she said, excuse me, I answered, unsure of why she 246 00:14:52.440 --> 00:14:57.519 was calling me Hazel. Well, my name is Hazel. What's yours? Oh, 247 00:14:57.679 --> 00:15:00.679 I'm Charlie. I told her. Nice to me, you, Charlie. 248 00:15:00.759 --> 00:15:03.600 Have you ever been to this thing before? The young 249 00:15:03.639 --> 00:15:06.480 girl who helped me sat a small, squat pumpkin in 250 00:15:06.480 --> 00:15:08.840 front of Hazel, and it suddenly struck me that she 251 00:15:09.000 --> 00:15:13.440 was matching pumpkin shapes to body types. No, I haven't. 252 00:15:13.679 --> 00:15:17.120 I didn't know it existed until a week ago. Well, 253 00:15:17.159 --> 00:15:20.120 me neither. If I'd known they did this, i'd come 254 00:15:20.159 --> 00:15:23.879 every year. I was struck by the little girl quality 255 00:15:24.080 --> 00:15:27.679 in her voice. I'm Martin. Over there, that's my husband, 256 00:15:27.960 --> 00:15:30.679 She gestured over to where the withered old man was 257 00:15:30.759 --> 00:15:34.080 nodding off on a park bench. Martin never likes to 258 00:15:34.120 --> 00:15:36.840 go to these things, but he's had so much fun today. 259 00:15:37.320 --> 00:15:40.000 He's like a kid again. And she giggled, and I 260 00:15:40.120 --> 00:15:43.240 decided that I liked Hazel. He says we can come 261 00:15:43.279 --> 00:15:46.600 back next year if I want to. Well, that's nice, 262 00:15:46.759 --> 00:15:49.200 I offered, because I didn't know what else to say. 263 00:15:49.840 --> 00:15:53.200 I looked over at her sleeping husband. He wasn't an 264 00:15:53.200 --> 00:15:56.360 attractive old man. I highly doubted that he had been 265 00:15:56.399 --> 00:15:59.200 handsome in his youth. He bore a full set of 266 00:15:59.240 --> 00:16:02.159 acme scar on each cheek, and his mouth seemed too 267 00:16:02.279 --> 00:16:05.039 wide for his thin face, and his nose was long 268 00:16:05.120 --> 00:16:09.039 and hooked. However, I remembered how he had pulled out 269 00:16:09.039 --> 00:16:11.559 his wallet and purchased the quilt for his wife, and 270 00:16:11.600 --> 00:16:15.679 I decided I liked him too. We carved our pumpkins, 271 00:16:15.840 --> 00:16:20.159 trading suggestions and offering support as we did so. Hazel 272 00:16:20.279 --> 00:16:24.440 didn't stop talking. She told me about her children and grandchildren. 273 00:16:24.919 --> 00:16:27.720 She talked about a son who died in Vietnam, and 274 00:16:27.759 --> 00:16:31.279 another who lives somewhere out west now but who always 275 00:16:31.320 --> 00:16:35.399 comes home for Thanksgiving. She told me about the quilt 276 00:16:35.440 --> 00:16:38.080 she'd purchased and how much it reminded her of a 277 00:16:38.159 --> 00:16:40.440 quilt her grandmother had made for her when she was 278 00:16:40.480 --> 00:16:43.879 a little girl. And then she told me how she 279 00:16:43.919 --> 00:16:47.320 and Martin had always planned to travel after he retired 280 00:16:47.360 --> 00:16:50.480 from the factory where he had worked for nearly thirty years, 281 00:16:50.799 --> 00:16:53.480 but that they had robbed him of his pension, and 282 00:16:53.480 --> 00:16:55.559 now they couldn't afford to do much more than go 283 00:16:55.600 --> 00:16:59.320 to little festivals like this. And by the time the 284 00:16:59.360 --> 00:17:01.480 young girl came around and led us over to the 285 00:17:01.559 --> 00:17:05.480 judging table, I knew almost everything a body could know 286 00:17:05.759 --> 00:17:09.519 about an elderly couple leaving Social Security check to check. 287 00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:13.240 There must have been a hundred pumpkins on the hay 288 00:17:13.440 --> 00:17:17.960 racks behind the judges booth. They were separated into categories 289 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:21.359 by the age of the artist. We were handed cards 290 00:17:21.400 --> 00:17:24.119 on which to write our names, and when we handed 291 00:17:24.160 --> 00:17:26.799 them back, they stuck a sticker on each card with 292 00:17:26.839 --> 00:17:29.599 a number and handed us each a ticket with a 293 00:17:29.599 --> 00:17:33.480 corresponding number. The judging would take place in a few 294 00:17:33.519 --> 00:17:36.400 more hours, and if we placed, we would be invited 295 00:17:36.440 --> 00:17:40.480 to ride on the float and carry our pumpkins. I 296 00:17:40.559 --> 00:17:43.000 said my goodbyes to Hazel, and I wished her and 297 00:17:43.119 --> 00:17:45.400 Martin good luck, and I went to find more food 298 00:17:45.440 --> 00:17:48.759 to eat. When I finally sat down on the bench 299 00:17:48.799 --> 00:17:51.519 where Martin had been napping earlier, I took a long, 300 00:17:51.599 --> 00:17:56.000 hard look around. Most of the pumpkin carvers were adults. Now. 301 00:17:56.559 --> 00:18:00.640 The simple, toothless grins created by the children were gone. 302 00:18:00.799 --> 00:18:04.599 Older minds were cutting out more devious looking faces with evil, 303 00:18:04.640 --> 00:18:09.039 frowning eyes and pointed, jagged teeth. I watched as first 304 00:18:09.119 --> 00:18:13.079 one person in twentieth century apparel, and then another was 305 00:18:13.160 --> 00:18:16.839 replaced by someone who dressed in their period clothing, began 306 00:18:16.880 --> 00:18:21.160 to carve with amazing precision. The initial works were not 307 00:18:21.279 --> 00:18:24.799 much more impressive than anyone else's, but little by little, 308 00:18:25.039 --> 00:18:29.880 simple eye holes and gaping mouths were disappearing. Whole faces 309 00:18:29.960 --> 00:18:33.000 were being carved in with tools that weren't on the table, 310 00:18:33.279 --> 00:18:37.079 but were being pulled from inside of pockets. I was 311 00:18:37.119 --> 00:18:41.160 amazed at how realistic those faces began to look. A 312 00:18:41.160 --> 00:18:45.160 few were whimsical, but mostly they were frightening. I saw 313 00:18:45.279 --> 00:18:48.039 one carve to look like an angry sea captain, into 314 00:18:48.119 --> 00:18:51.240 whose mouth the artist shoved a pipe when he was finished, 315 00:18:51.759 --> 00:18:55.880 And another face resembled a witch. It looked so alive 316 00:18:56.000 --> 00:18:58.839 that I could almost see her meeting with her sisters 317 00:18:58.839 --> 00:19:02.640 in the open scene of Beth. Then I saw a 318 00:19:02.680 --> 00:19:06.599 beastly face. The eye was popped out and dangling by 319 00:19:06.720 --> 00:19:10.880 cords of pumpkin guts, Its cheeks were modeled as if 320 00:19:10.920 --> 00:19:14.240 scarred by smallpox, and it was spewing more pumpkin guts 321 00:19:14.279 --> 00:19:17.640 from its fat lips. It looked like blood was trickling 322 00:19:17.720 --> 00:19:20.559 from its nose, and I couldn't help but feel that 323 00:19:20.640 --> 00:19:24.359 I had seen that face somewhere, maybe not such a 324 00:19:24.440 --> 00:19:28.039 hideous version of it, but definitely that face, and I 325 00:19:28.119 --> 00:19:31.799 decided it must be the artist rendition of Charles Lofton 326 00:19:32.039 --> 00:19:36.160 as the hunchback of Notre Dame. I was beginning to 327 00:19:36.160 --> 00:19:39.279 get tired. Too much food, too many bottles of the 328 00:19:39.359 --> 00:19:42.319 overly sweet root beer, and too many glasses of apple 329 00:19:42.400 --> 00:19:46.119 cider were taking their toll. The judge wasn't due to 330 00:19:46.160 --> 00:19:49.400 start for another hour, but I was imagining my warm, 331 00:19:49.480 --> 00:19:53.200 comfortable hotel room and thinking that no parade would match 332 00:19:53.279 --> 00:19:57.880 the joy of crawling into bed. Another completed pumpkin was 333 00:19:57.920 --> 00:20:02.319 placed beside the dangling eyep can. This one had been 334 00:20:02.359 --> 00:20:05.759 painted with pink lipstick and wore a mop of bright 335 00:20:05.880 --> 00:20:09.599 red hair. I looked at the little squinting eyes and 336 00:20:09.680 --> 00:20:12.400 thought how funny it was that the two pumpkins, side 337 00:20:12.400 --> 00:20:15.880 by sides looked so much like Hazel and Martin. And 338 00:20:15.880 --> 00:20:17.839 it occurred to me then that it must be a 339 00:20:17.880 --> 00:20:20.720 tradition to find people in the crowd, and the car 340 00:20:20.759 --> 00:20:24.359 faces to resemble theirs. I looked up and down the 341 00:20:24.400 --> 00:20:26.799 line of the artists to see if anyone was carving 342 00:20:26.880 --> 00:20:30.519 my face. None of the pumpkins looked anything like me. 343 00:20:32.079 --> 00:20:36.119 Will you come with me please? I looked around, and 344 00:20:36.160 --> 00:20:38.599 the voice that seemed to be whispering in my ear, 345 00:20:39.599 --> 00:20:42.480 the young girl who had sold me the pumpkin, was 346 00:20:42.559 --> 00:20:45.880 bending over the back of my bench. Are you talking 347 00:20:45.920 --> 00:20:49.319 to me? I asked, yes, Can you please come with me? 348 00:20:49.880 --> 00:20:54.559 She was beckoning for me to follow her. Exhaustion was 349 00:20:54.640 --> 00:20:57.640 winning the day. I couldn't imagine where I would ever 350 00:20:57.680 --> 00:21:01.200 find the energy to stand up, much less wine. I 351 00:21:01.200 --> 00:21:03.880 shook my head no, unable to find the worst to 352 00:21:03.920 --> 00:21:08.119 explain that I was too tired. You've won a price, 353 00:21:08.440 --> 00:21:12.200 she said, you have a spot on the float. Her 354 00:21:12.200 --> 00:21:16.079 smile felt more like a leer. All around us, lights 355 00:21:16.119 --> 00:21:19.839 were being lit, or perhaps torches were being ignited. I 356 00:21:19.839 --> 00:21:24.519 couldn't tell which voices were fading in and out. People 357 00:21:24.519 --> 00:21:27.680 were moving about, but it looked more like they were swaying. 358 00:21:28.759 --> 00:21:31.799 I felt dizzy. If you'll follow me, I'll take you 359 00:21:31.839 --> 00:21:35.039 to the float, she said. I don't know if I 360 00:21:35.119 --> 00:21:38.359 was too exhausted to move or too exhausted to disobey, 361 00:21:39.079 --> 00:21:41.319 I sat straight up on the bench and I reached 362 00:21:41.319 --> 00:21:44.799 for my bag. My body was making up my mind 363 00:21:44.880 --> 00:21:49.000 for me. It apparently thought I had enough energy to follow. 364 00:21:49.880 --> 00:21:52.240 My hand reached the spot where my bag should have been, 365 00:21:52.319 --> 00:21:55.079 but there was nothing there. I have your bag, if 366 00:21:55.079 --> 00:21:58.400 you will follow me, the young girl said. Her voice 367 00:21:58.400 --> 00:22:01.640 had a strange, ethereal sound that matched the music that 368 00:22:01.759 --> 00:22:05.039 was still coming from the tent. Come on, she coaxed. 369 00:22:05.079 --> 00:22:09.720 It's this way. The world tilted sideways as I gained 370 00:22:09.759 --> 00:22:12.640 my fee, but I quickly righted myself and I took 371 00:22:12.720 --> 00:22:16.400 the first step forward. She was directly in front of me. 372 00:22:16.960 --> 00:22:20.960 Her long brown hair fell down her back in soft waves. 373 00:22:20.960 --> 00:22:25.599 Such pretty hair, I heard myself mutter. We walked through 374 00:22:25.640 --> 00:22:28.640 the crowd single file, and every now and then she 375 00:22:28.680 --> 00:22:30.720 would stop and look back to make sure I was 376 00:22:30.759 --> 00:22:35.039 still there. Somehow I was. My head was spinning and 377 00:22:35.039 --> 00:22:38.000 my eyes were losing focus. I was certain that I 378 00:22:38.079 --> 00:22:40.920 was going to pass out, but my feet kept moving forward. 379 00:22:41.599 --> 00:22:43.559 We made our way back up the street to the 380 00:22:43.599 --> 00:22:49.559 big red barn. In here, she said, sliding the door 381 00:22:49.599 --> 00:22:52.519 open wide enough for me to step through. It was 382 00:22:52.599 --> 00:22:56.319 warm inside. It had been a relatively warm day, but 383 00:22:56.440 --> 00:22:59.440 the night. At some point, and I can't remember when 384 00:23:00.079 --> 00:23:03.839 it had become nigh, the night air chilled everything, including me. 385 00:23:05.319 --> 00:23:08.920 The interior of the barn glowed with a golden hue 386 00:23:08.960 --> 00:23:12.599 that one hundred lit candles or a blazing fire would create. 387 00:23:13.400 --> 00:23:17.039 That people were moving around inside. They were all dressed 388 00:23:17.079 --> 00:23:21.039 in colonial attire. In front of me was a woman. 389 00:23:21.720 --> 00:23:24.720 Her clothes were from my century, and it told me 390 00:23:24.799 --> 00:23:28.599 that she was not local. She turned to look at me, 391 00:23:28.759 --> 00:23:32.319 and we were both startled to see the disoriented exhaustion 392 00:23:32.480 --> 00:23:36.799 in each other's faces. A voice from somewhere deep inside 393 00:23:36.839 --> 00:23:41.119 me whispered, I told you to leave, now, it's too late. 394 00:23:42.240 --> 00:23:48.160 I felt sick. There was a strange, nauseating smell hanging 395 00:23:48.240 --> 00:23:51.720 in the air, and I couldn't quite place it. It was 396 00:23:51.799 --> 00:23:54.839 thick and metallic in nature, with undertones of something I 397 00:23:54.880 --> 00:23:59.000 could not identify. I closed my eyes for just a moment. 398 00:23:59.559 --> 00:24:02.640 The thud of something heavy hitting the dirt floor somewhere 399 00:24:02.680 --> 00:24:06.200 near me brought me wide awake, and I focused on 400 00:24:06.240 --> 00:24:09.599 the spot where the woman had stood only a moment before, 401 00:24:09.880 --> 00:24:13.799