Heap's Giant Pumpkin Farm

Have you ever tried to get five busy people together for an hour-long meeting? Well, it’s almost like trying to get my five-person family together for a whole Saturday. Improbable? Probably. But that’s what I wanted.

 My parents asked me what I’d like to do to celebrate my graduation, and I wanted to have the whole family get together one Saturday, go to a farm, and pick apples and pumpkins.

Why apples and pumpkins? Just because I love fall! Talk about coloring your world—autumn gives the world more colors than your HDTV can handle. Aramanth. Scarlet. Cranberry.  Cinnamon. Amber. Gold. Citrine. (who wants to say just plain old red, orange, yellow?)

So, we waited for four months after I got my diploma. When September finally did roll around, we haggled over the Saturdays it contained. I was covetous. I wanted EVERYONE for the ENTIRE day. No cop-outs. No excuses. No sick days.

Hey, I had just surfaced from college. I can be a little bossy.

We finally decided on what Saturday would work for everyone! I did lots of research on the farms in our area (PickYourOwn.org) and, being the Scrooge that I am, eliminated a lot of farms that charged ridiculous amounts. (Come on, people. It’s not like our money grows on trees!) I narrowed it down to about three farms within two hours driving time, and who didn’t charge for every step you took on the farm.

When the day finally came around, I looked out my window to see a cloudy, rainy picture.

Isn’t that just like my life? The day finally comes around, and it’s lousy.

My attitude was lousy, too—my family can testify to that. I kept trying to downplay it—who wants to go picking pumpkins in the rain? It’s going to be muddy. I’m going to freeze. My mascara’s going to run. . .

But we went anyway. It showered steadily for our first hour there, but nobody really noticed. We were simply enthralled by the myriad of pumpkins, gourds, and mums (oh my!).

This girl from the Chicago suburbs was swallowed up with fascination of the farm animals! Did I ever mention that I've always wanted to work at a zoo? When I saw this pig roaming freely, I wondered, "should I pet it, or call the cops?"

The farm also had donkeys, goats, chickens and roosters, and some other bird species (my brother Tony and I think they're pheasants or turkeys).

Then, we lost ourselves, and then rescued ourselves again from within a soybean maze and a giant corn maze.

Finally, we took a hayride out to the fields.

For me, this was the highlight. The five of us had the tractor bed all to ourselves. We all suddenly noticed a cheery blue sky and warm sun. When did this happen? Well, maybe somewhere between the pigs and the corn maze.

Farm life is peaceful, and quiet. At least to those of us who don't have to jerk awake at the sound of the rooster to run outside into the dark morning hours and keep it all going.

I wish everyone would take a day and drive out to a place like this. Experience the quiet, the peace. The contentment. The humbleness. The simple beauty.

"He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate— bringing forth food from the earth: wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread that sustains his heart. The trees of the LORD are well watered, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted. There the birds make their nests; the stork has its home in the pine trees. The high mountains belong to the wild goats; the crags are a refuge for the coneys. The moon marks off the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down." (Psalm 104:14-19)

Has anybody else ever been to a farm like this? What do you think? Does it color your world?

Links:

1. Pick Your Own (links directly to their list of pumpkin patches) http://www.pumpkinpatchesandmore.org/index.php

2. Heap's Giant Pumpkin Farm (Minooka, Il) http://heapsgiantpumpkinfarm.com/