“I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

Jack O’ lanterns lined the eastern shore of Central Park’s Harlem Meer.

Some jack o’ lanterns were happy, some were cross.

For the second year, the Central Park Conservancy sponsored a day of Halloween-themed family fun at the Charles Dana Discovery Center, located at the northern end of Central Park along the Harlem Meer, one of the Park’s several man-made water features.

Lighting the jack o’ lanterns looked as if it was a tedious job.

The sole white pumpkin stood out.

“We fancy men are individuals; so are pumpkins; but every pumpkin in the field goes through every point of pumpkin history”  —Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes (1803-1882)

The black cat and witch confer.

The witch kayaker paddled into the Harlem Meer.

The day was capped off by a Pumpkin Flotilla. Toward sunset two kayaks set off from opposite shores of the Meer with 50 carved pumpkins trailing behind. Each jack o’ lantern was intended to be illuminated by a tea light from within. The strong, cold wind made the task of lighting them and keeping them lit a fool’s errand.

‘Meer’ is a Dutch word meaning ‘lake.’

The Pumpkin Flotilla was underway!

“Each year, the Great Pumpkin rises out of the pumpkin patch that he thinks is the most sincere.”
—Linus Van Pelt, “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown”

This is what a 50-pumpkin flotilla looks like.

The pumpkins of the kayaker from the opposite shore look very cool as they trail behind him.

On Halloween the thing you must do
Is pretend that nothing can frighten you
And if something scares you and you want to run
Just let on like it’s Halloween fun.
—Annoymous