Unexpected Bloom
I looked up this morning to notice that an orchid from Trader Joe’s from before the pandemic, decided to bloom.

I looked up this morning to notice that an orchid from Trader Joe’s from before the pandemic, decided to bloom.

I looked at these words hanging together and thought I wasn’t quite certain what was intended to be said. Consider:
Read from top to bottom or try it out from left to right.
Put in a comma or an exclamation point.
Just an period or perhaps two. Omit punctuation entirely.
Think of all the meanings of both words and mix them around with various punctuation marks.
What about a question mark (or two)?
Then stop all that and just let meaning come to you.

As I walk around the neighborhood seeing all the pumpkins on stoops, like Proust with his madeleines, I remember the scent of roasting pumpkin seeds and the salty taste on my tongue, and I return to the place of my childhood. My mother wasn’t much for holidays, but she very much enjoyed arts and crafts projects. The jack-o-lantern, was something then that showed up when we were little kids. I don’t think there was ever a jack-o-lantern carved when we did not eat the seeds. Part of the project was cleaning the seeds, oiling a cookie sheet, spreading the seeds out on the sheet, salting them, and roasting them until golden, and then enjoying the seeds as a special salty treat. I think it unlikely she has decorated a pumpkin at home since I was in early elementary school, but if she were to do it now, in addition to roasting the pumpkin seeds, I am sure she would decorate the outside instead of cutting it into a jack-o-lantern, so that the pumpkin could also be used for soup or pie.