On waiting and anticipation

Is it just me or was the price of pumpkins outrageous this year?  I wanted these gems back at the beginning of October but they were almost $8 a piece!  Instead, I waited until Halloween and paid just a dollar a piece.  And, I’m enjoying them just as much as if I’d gotten them before.

I have a slight problem with immediate gratification {which is both funny and ironic today of all days as our internet connection is intermittent and extremely slow}.  However, I am learning to curb the want for the sake of needs.  I’ve always thought that I’m a few steps behind most people  my age; behind all my classmates back home in Michigan.  I’m in a place I never thought I’d be at this point in my life, both literally and figuratively. I’m learning to be okay with it.  Good things come to those who wait, right?

I’m also learning that like that top pumpkin there, bumply and warty-looking is pretty, too.       Sure, the smooth, orange pumpkin is the norm.  It’s most recognizable and acceptable.  But, there is something unique about a bumpy dark colored pumpkin that adds interest and contrast to normal.  It’s what makes normal, well, normal.

Sometimes the anticipation is sweeter than the reward.  It’s like waiting and waiting for the pumpkin pie to finish baking and cooling, and then realizing at first bite that you forgot to add the sugar. Or, finishing the whole pie in one sitting, leaving nothing to look forward to later.

This month I am grateful for waiting.  I’m grateful for the sweet, tingly feeling of anticipation.  I’m grateful for right timing and the feeling that I’ll know when that time comes.

I am grateful for the sunrise in the morning and the endless possibility of a new day, a new start. I am grateful for pretty pumpkins, warty and bumpy, orange and smooth, whitish and ghoulish…I love them all.