By Allegra (Schafer) Marcell ‘99
Author's reflection
Monday, October 9, 2017
I can't believe it's been 20 years.
I remember that day (and the night before at my evening concert) very well. I actually got an honorable mention in the Provost's "is this a real pumpkin" contest...this was my submission:
(Happy Halloween, everyone!)
The Truth About Me, the McGraw Tower Pumpkin, by Allegra (Schafer) Marcell ‘99.
I AM REAL. A TRUE PUMPKIN. In my prime, I could just fit in the arms of Chimesmaster Allegra Schafer, who is writing this for me. I remember when I first met her. It was the eve before I was placed atop the point of McGraw Tower. I had been carved- my top and bottom had circles taken out of them, and then I was gutted [diagram here] such that I could fit over the point of the Tower. After my carving, I do not think I weighed more than fifteen pounds. It was Tuesday October 7, 1997. I was sitting just outside of the belfry door of McGraw Tower, waiting. Allegra came up to open the door for her 6:00 p.m. concert and saw me. She probably thought that my presence was a bit unusual, but she must have figured that- since it was close to Halloween- one of the other Chimesmasters had brought me up. So she said hello and left me where I was. (I am sure that she must have thought about me when she went home that night, but by the time it occurred to her how unusual I really was, I was already on the point of the Tower, overlooking the beautiful Ithaca scenery below). Anyway, that evening of Tuesday the 7th, I was serenaded by Allegra as she played her concert.
It is quite cold here atop McGraw Tower, and I am afraid that I have begun to succumb to the elements. I feel very solid, however. It seems as if what remained of my insides has sublimed. I feel more like a rock now than a pumpkin and expect to remain here for some time. *Sigh*. It shall be sad when I must come down- the view from here is so lovely!
I must tell the reader that it is not unusual for a pumpkin to last for this long, especially under conditions such as mine. As Oliver Habicht, that nice man who created a Web Page in my honor, told Allegra a while back, he has received email from all over the country in response to the information about me on his Pumpkin Watch page. One woman wrote to him- she was involved in agriculture of some sort- and said that she was not surprised at all that I was lasting atop the Tower for so long. She said that this endurance is not unusual for real pumpkins!
I must let you know that I thank Chimesmaster Allegra for acting as my scribe. Her address is [...] in case you have questions for her, and she used her eyes and brain to meet and think about me. She also said hello to me again recently when her mother came to Ithaca to visit; Allegra’s mom videotaped me with the help of the powerful zoom lens on her video camera.
I enjoy watching all of you Cornellians walking far below me. I feel very honored to have been the subject of so much attention. I feel even more honored that I am serenaded by the Chimesmasters every day. It is quite lonely up here, however. I do miss my fellow Curcurbitaceae from the patch...
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