Charlie Brown

So, as you may or may not recall, last year there was a shortage on waffles, which I blogged about in 'wailing for waffles'. This year, the shortage is...wait for it...

Pumpkin. As in, pumpkin pie, pumpkin. That's right. There are only a few (read, I think, 2) pumpkin factories in America. As I understand it, one was shut down and something happened to the other. Or maybe it was the crops. There is no Libby can of pumpkin at the local Fred Meyers. Or Wal Mart.

I feel like we have entered the Depression shortage years, the beginning of the Communist bread lines. First no waffles, now no pumpkin. It starts out small, what you eat in the morning. Then it moves to a national holiday. Next, it will be toothpaste and insulin.

Is there no way to fix this? Aren't there literally hundreds of thousands of people without jobs in America? Don't tell me there isn't a demand for it. This is PUMPKIN we are talking about. It's been in demand since food in America was. They ate pumpkin in Plymouth people. (Yes, I liked the alliteration too.) I have horrifying visions of mothers with 5 kids and little old ladies shoving each other for the last can so they can make cookies and breads and pie. I worry for the state of the Union.

The pumpkin we tried to grow never made it due to a late summer, an early fall, and some vampire squirrel that left incisor marks. (Think Bunnicula. Great children's series, by the way.)

Now, I'm not saying that no pumpkin will ruin the country. But I do think it's telling. And when you sit around with your family this fall and there's no pumpkin pie (presuming the issue isn't resolved), I think you'll notice. It's like that Kenny Rogers' song "we even lost Superman". Something in America has been floundering a long, long time. But it's taken some pretty hard knocks to get the majority of people ready to get out of the house and do something about it. A pumpkin shortage isn't the first indicator, nor will it be the last. But it is an indicator.

Once again, it's essential that we know our leaders, understand history and economics, and be willing to fight to keep integrity and the founding principles. It's not just big things, like freedom of religion and speech (though those are, without question, essential to liberty), it's the little things too...things that are a part of our national identity and creation. Removing that one piece of pie seems a bit more significant.

Let's hope, like Linus, that we see The Great Pumpkin this year.