I love the smell of pneumatic air cannons in the morning.

Fall is my favorite time of year. While my birthday is in the spring, and well, that just makes me happy, there is something just so very fantastic about the fall. Let's visit the reasons:

1. The fall leaves -the banner picture was taken in DC's Rock Creek Park. It's just so pretty here.
2. Sweaters! - and all fall clothing, for that matter.
3. Football - while we are half way through the season, nothing says football like crisp cool air. It makes me want to go to a high school football game.
4. Thanksgiving - by far my favorite holiday. Not only does it consist of my favorite carbo-loaded foods, but it's actually tradition to watch football and complain about how crazy and dysfunctional your family is. How great is that?
5. An extra hour of sleep - Despite the fact that I am usually ready for the time change in the spring, I can't help but resenting it a little for snatching an hour of sleep.
6. And last, but certainly NOT least, PUNKIN CHUNKIN!

For those of you unfamiliar with the great sport, let me e'splain: It’s a fantastic event, that’s part county fair, part theatrical show, part beer festival, part ode-to-Dixie, part tailgate and part gun show...in Delaware. All put on by people who take this VERY, VERY SERIOUSLY (They GROW their own special hybrid pumpkins in secret fields). Mix that all together with thousands of people and put them in the middle of a 300-acre field with pumpkins and pneumatic air cannons. Thus beginneth the Punkin Chunkin Festival. This year, our third year at Punkin Chunkin, Court and I got up at 6am and then drove two hours to the middle of nowhere Delaware. These are the only times that I arrive anywhere before 8am.

Basic overview: There are six categories of chunkers: Air Cannons, trebuchets, centrifugal, human power, torsion and catapult. Each entry in each category can launch once a day (It’s a three-day event). Each measurement is marked by ‘spotters’ driving around on 4-wheelers in the 300 acre field. (BTW, all of this is documented in a MUST-SEE Discovery Channel Documentary in 2001.) Each launch counts unless the pumpkin “makes pie” meaning that it comes out of the machine in more than one piece. With the Air Cannons, the pressure is so great that the pumpkins sometimes obliterate, creating a fine pumpkin MIST. SERIOUSLY. And I drove 2 hours at 6am to see this.

Here is a video taken by the guy I was standing next to - this is one of the centrifigal Chunkers. Why is the punkin green, you ask? That's a good question. It's because they inject the punkins with Lime juice to make the outsides harder.

Let me include an excerpt from our first year in 2006 so you get the full idea of the wonderment: We knew that we had seriously underestimated the day when, upon our arrival, we were surrounded by trucks-all carrying their own fashioned-out-of-barrels-BBQs, coolers and some had their own port-a-potties and sofas (note the plural) for tailgating. My little Accord with three overly hyper girls didn’t quite fit in. I cannot even begin to describe to you the absolute joy/shock/awe of being at the World Punkin Chunkin Festival. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN, I can’t even begin to tell you! Even though I actually SAW only about 5 pumpkins (they go about a mile in the air) IT WAS WORTH IT. We sat in the freezing cold for what seemed like years until we saw the first blasts of the air cannon category. The fun didn’t stop for 6 hours as we watched the pumpkins fly and I temporarily fell in love with a ‘spotter’. We ate pumpkin funnel cake and corn dogs, we shopped for handicrafts and thought about riding on the carnival rides until I realized that these people were crazy and our lives were at risk if we were to go near the high-powered machinery. We laughed all day long; it was so fun! My favorite “Chunk” (yes, that’s the correct verbiage) of the day was the trebuchet that was maintained (and supposedly built) by people dressed in Medieval gear (i.e. lots of velvet), including some dude in a head-to-foot suit of armor. This could be what the folks at Medieval Times do on their time off. We watched them set a new world record. The combination of Super-Dork and Super-Drunk was just too hilarious.

This year was so different from our first, but pretty much the same. First, Punkin Chunkin has Grown to be HUGE. And Court and I are convinced it's because of our word of mouth buzz. The vendors have quadrupled, they've let people stand near the air cannons now and the Mormon attendance has to have increased 2,347,896,234%. Those damn Mormons are everywhere. (I seriously don't understand why we have to travel in packs.) Plus, this year, it was HOT - 65 degrees! Last year we FROZE! We were dying out there in the middle of this Delaware field. This year, we were prepared. Wearing 4 layers of clothing, armed with our thermoses (is that the plural?) of hot drinks and toe warmers, we arrived only leave our coats in the car and strip off layers throughout the day, by the time we went home, I had a sunburn...and an elephant tattoo.

The discovery Channel was out there again this year making another documentary, the sequal to it's 2001 masterpiece. It should be on Thanksgiving night, so make sure you DVR it so you can see yours truly. And if anyone EVER wants to come visit me (HINT HINT), next year (Nov. 6-8, 2009), I’ll take you there. Because Court and I are ramping up next year's event and have already started making a list of the stuff we're going to need (ie: tents, grills, trucks, sofas...)