after halloweening...

... when jack'o'lanterns, decorations on the front stoop featuring carved faces (scary or not), and various sizes and colors of pumpkins, it's abruptly over. What to do with the remains? Corn stalks, fall leaves, dead mum plants, caved in grungy items from the farmer's market.

I saw a video recently of elephants having a party with pumpkins. They were in a zoo environment someplace in the mid west - where elephants should never be. Not in the corn belt of the central plains of North America, nor ever incarcerated. But that's best left for another day. They were having a grand time destroying and eating the donated produce.

The giant-sized vegetables were from the state fair. Planted and nurtured, fed and watered to be submitted in the contest for the mostest biggest. An excellent way to get rid of all the contest entry pumpkins: every one's a winner! The mammals were rolling around in the generous serving of the greatest pumpkins the state's farmers had to offer. I expect there were numerous categories and age groups, so the quantity of vegetables grown and shared with the local zoo was plenteous.

The video was so amusing, I suggested in an email to the nearby 'Wild Animal Safari' park they should ask local sources for donations. The grocery stores will be putting pumpkins in dumpsters this week, and destroying edible produce. Perfectly good, usable items that would provide food as well as great entertainment for local captives.