So this past weekend, my lovely wife and I drove to Frankfort, Michigan (which is incidentally Desmond’s home) to check out the annual Shiver by the River Fall Festival. There is nothing quite like small town America celebrating the joy of giant vegetables.

What makes this Fall Festive so special is not just the giant pumpkins, rather the collision of one of those giant pumpkin into another object… namely an automobile. A large pumpkin that I would judge being close to the thousand pound mark was lifted up by crane over a beat up white sedan (which actually looked like my dad’s old Cavalier).

Given this concept, the first thing you think is “how many people lost their lives in this horrific tragedy?” However, I did not mention X factor in all of this. HA HA! The wind so strong, it was whipping the giant pumpkin around as it dangled from the crane. So picture a thousand pound vegetable dangling from a crane pretty close to 70 feet above the earth swaying over a crowd hungry for some pumpkin carnage. Yes, my friend, good times!

So, with a bit of luck, the pumpkin dropped on the car, causing a very underwhelming crash. It really was not the spectacle you would think it would be. However, it did spark a mini-riot, as the crowd made a break for the smashed pumpkin for photo-ops or to grab a chunk of the smashed gourd. One guy carried a ten pound chunk by us and proclaimed to the world that he was having pie tonight! Good times indeed!

What is really nice about Northern Michigan are the colors. At “peak time” the trees turn to wonderful shades of bright yellows and burning reds. We made it up to see the beginning of this turn in color, and it truly is a sight to behold. Being an artist, the sight of such radiant color is like candy for the soul. Northern Michigan was rated in the top ten places to visit in Autumn, and I highly recommend heading up there if you have the opportunity.

Finally, I could not leave Desmond’s home without witnessing one of the prettiest sights you can see on Lake Michigan. Watching the warm glow of the sunset engulfing the sky against the freezing cold of the water below was yet another tasty desert for the soul.

Thanks Frankfort. Good times.