Our family farm has a pumpkin patch, a rather large one. At harvest time we walk the rows, picking the plump, orange goards that are ready for market. Several times over a 3-4 week period this process will be repeated. Only the fully grown pumpkins with good color are picked. The goards that never matured or are marked in any way are passed over. At the end of the season, the plants not chosen for market are left to rot and enrich the soil.

So as this year draws to a close, I will inventory the past months. I will chose to hold dear the things that are noble, beautiful, pure, and lovely. I will leave to rot all the lowly, ugly, unworthy, mistakes and missteps. These things will decay and become soil for next year's crop.