everyday is halloween

the patch

i love me some halloween & all the things associated with the high holiday.  one of those things is the pumpkin patch.  when nick was a littler fella anna & would go to at least 2 or 3 patches for the season.  but now we save ourselves for only one, cool patch pumpkins, in dixon, about a half hour's drive west of sac.

that is what we did.  nick & i went to target to load up on water & victuals in preparation of our visit to cool patch.  why water & snacks?  because cool patch has one of the largest corn mazes in the united states.  the maze is sometimes fiendishly difficult to navigate.  we've been so lost in it that we thought we may never find a way out.  i remember one year we were the last to come out of the corn.  the staff were waiting for us.  i can't remember the time but it was pretty damn late.  we must've been in the maze for at east 4 hours.  i asked the staff how did you know we were still in the maze?  we count the cars & when we see a car or two in the lot we know that they are still in the corn.  are we the latest that you had to wait for someone?  no, some years we had to wait until 2 or 3 in the morning.

we like to take our turn in the corn at night.  start at dusk then when we are half thru it gets dark.  the rows get a little spooky & the map markers become more difficult to find but that is why we bring water & vittles & flashlights.  however, tonight was a little different.  the weather was unsettled.  a storm cell was expected to pass thru around 7.  but when i checked my weather app when i was in light to pay for our supplies at target around 5:30 it said the weather will be partly cloudy.

odd that weather.  it's not like it don't rain in california.  but the intensity of the rain these past couple of weeks is, well, weird.  a sudden rush of water then a relative state of calm & clear skies.  we kept checking our phones for a change in forecast as we drove to dixon.  we can see the massive storm cell to our right.  it was traveling southeast which meant that it would sweep over sac, davis & perhaps dixon.  1 inch pieces of hail was reported & the forecasters warned people to take shelter.

& when we were outside of davis & driving into solano country our phones let our a terrible shriek.

a tornado warning.  serious wtf!!!  the text reads TAKE SHELTER NOW.  unbelievable.  tornadoes do happen in norcal.  but this text scared the shit out of us.  shall we continue on or do we turn around & go home.

we took a chance & soldiered on.  when we got to cool patch it was dry but over on the horizon the storm clouds were huge & intense.

the patch opened for the season last weekend.  we know from past experience that the earlier we go to the patch & the corn maze means fewer crowds & a relatively lightly traveled maze.  tonight was no exception.  the patch was lovely.  according to our weather apps the storm was expected to skirt dixon.  so we got a cart & did some pumpkin shopping.

darkness was falling & time was running short.  we purchased our pumpkins & tix to the maze.  i took our loot to our car & asked nick to take the maze map & mark our trail.  when i returned to anna & nick the last of the daylight slipped below the horizon.  the storm cell was closer.  more people were leaving the patch.  tears of lightning hit the skies.  & yet the patch was dry.

the thing is once we crossed into the corn maze we were committed to seeing our way thru.  we knew we would be in the corn for at least 2 hours.  from the map the maze appeared to be even more difficult.  that storm cell, the lightning, was getting closer.

fuck it.  we decided to get lost in the corn for another day.  our tix are good until halloween.  just being at the patch was delicious while the threat of a massive storm cell with rain & 1 inch sized hail quickened our blood.  that was worth the drive to dixon.  we took a few more pix of the patch & anna snapped this pic of me & nick.

you can see part of the maze on the left.  the wall of corn disappears into the horizon!

we then pointed our vehicle east & back to sac.  the traffic was horrid.  stop & go.  while the storm cell hovered over the city like an inverted umbrella.  still, it was a hell of a night.

boo