Pumpkin Carving

In this episode (176) – Pumpkin Carving . . .

Are you planning to host a pumpkin carving party for the neighborhood kids this holiday season, or maybe just liven up your porch for Halloween?

Yep, Halloween is about two weeks away. So dig out your pumpkin carving kit, cover your kitchen table with newspapers, and have at it. This festive task can be lots of fun - but messy, especially if you have a cat that insists on participating - sniffing everything, with paws flipping pumpkin seeds everywhere!

Here’s a quick tip I ran across from the How-To-Geek newsletter. The next time you carve a pumpkin, cut out the bottom of the gourd first to scrape the seeds. I’ve always cut the top of the pumpkin first to clean it out.

The reason was to carve a chimney to vent the candle votive used inside.

It turns out it’s much easier to clean the pumpkin upside down. Most of the seeds are attached to the base, so cutting from the bottom will make this messy task much cleaner and smoother. All that’s needed is a quick scrape inside, and your jack-o-lantern is ready to carve.

Now that you’ve cleaned out the inside of your pumpkin make sure to have some petroleum jelly (Vaseline) on hand to help your jack-o-lantern live a little longer during the spooky season.

Petroleum jelly can help keep your carved masterpiece looking perfect longer.

Apply Vaseline to the carved edges. This will seal the pumpkin’s moisture and prevent it from quick drying and shrinking. Who wants a wrinkled jack-o-lantern. But there are a few things to remember before going in with the jelly.

First, you’ll want to sterilize your pumpkin to prevent bacterial growth. Mix a teaspoon of bleach with a quart of water and rinse the carved inside and the outside of your pumpkin. Place the mixture in a spray bottle to make it easier to apply. Then, once dry, you can smear on the jelly.

When you do, keep in mind that petroleum jelly is flammable. You should only use a battery-operated votive inside, never an actual candle. The last thing you want is a visit from the fire department.

Have fun this season, but remember, stay safe.

I'm Patrick Ball; thanks for listening. I'll see you in the next episode.

Comments

Finding Our Place

In this episode, Finding Our Place: Hope and Humanity in the Age of AI . . . Yesterday, I overheard a conversation that echoed a question many of us are quietly asking: In a world increasingly shaped by algorithms, where do we , as humans, truly fit in? My younger colleagues, sharp and driven, were "joking" about AI taking their jobs. Their concerns felt valid, prompting me to reflect. Will machines really replace us? My answer, unequivocally, is No . And here’s why. What makes us uniquely human isn't merely our ability to perform tasks. It's our innate capacity for creativity and our deep-seated need to serve others. These aren't just abstract ideas; they are the very essence of what gives meaning to our lives and work. While AI excels at processing data and automating tasks with incredible speed, it cannot replicate the spark of human ingenuity. It lacks the empathy to truly understand unspoken needs or the intuitive synergy that fosters breakthrough solutio...

Chasing the Magic

In this episode, Chasing the Magic: How the Summer of ’98 Inspired the 'Ball Boys' . . . Do you remember that feeling? The late-summer air was thick with humidity, radios crackling on porches, the smell of fresh-cut grass and barbecue smoke in the backyard. Every evening carried a new kind of suspense—the country holding its collective breath after every pitch. “Did he hit one today?” became more than a question; it sparked a nationwide conversation. For me, and millions of others, the summer of 1998 wasn’t just another baseball season. It was theater, a movement, a time when the game recaptured something sacred. As sportswriter Mike Lupica said so perfectly, “No matter how old you are or how much you’ve seen, sports is still about memory and imagination. Never more than during the summer of ’98, when baseball made everyone feel like a kid again, when it felt important again.” Just four years earlier, the 1994 players’ strike had left the sport bruised...

Beyond Facts

✨ In this episode, Beyond Facts: Reimagining School–in the Age of AI . . . This week's podcast is a bit different; it's another example of how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can offer tools to creatively enhance your analytical presentation of information. We took this week's blog and copied it into Gemini with the question, “If a story is to work, it must, on some level, create an illusion of escape and also achieve a goal simultaneously. Does this apply to my blog post that follows?” What's created is not just an analysis of the writing, but an AI-generated discussion produced “On the Fly” - Enjoy! Did you know that the word "school" comes from the ancient Greek word scholē , which originally meant "leisure"? Not a rigid schedule or droning lectures filled with "facts," but free time for thinking and conversation. To the Greeks, learning happened best when life slowed down—when you had room to reflect, to ask questions, and to wrestle ...

Retirement Talk

In this episode, Patrick & Huck: Retirement Talk . . . We all get caught daydreaming sometimes, don’t we? Just like Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn might’ve done, lazyin’ by the river with a fishing pole in hand and the BIG wide world spinn’ in their heads. This morning, with coffee steaming and plans bubbling, I found myself driftin’ into a chat with none other than my imaginary friend–Huck Finn himself. Patrick: “Mornin’, Huck. Say, I’m mighty curious what you’d make of this retirement business.” Huck: “Well now, sit tight, ‘cause I’ve been thinkin’ on that too. Only thirty-one days 'til you're sixty-nine — whew! You're talkin’ ‘bout quittin’, hangin’ up your spurs, Givin’ the workin’ life its final good slurs. Ain’t got no debts, no mortgage, no fuss, Just clean livin’ and freedom waitin’ on the bus. Most folks’d throw hats in the air, cheerin’ loud and proud, But you? You’re starin’ out yonder, lost in some cloud. You're dreamin’ of cyclin' and books and guitar...

On The Fly

Search This Blog