Bridgeville, Delaware. It's on the Map

Last weekend I went to Punkin Chunkin. It's an Eastern Shore thing. The locals call it "The Chunk". I had never been to it in it's 26 years of operation. So it was all new to me. It's very big now. Discovery Channel covers it. It's a bunch of people gathering to see another bunch of people toss pumpkins. There are alcohol, tobacco and firearms too. I didn't know there was an "open carry" law in Delaware. This refers to guns, not alcohol containers. It is an outdoor gathering, so you can drink, carry a gun, and smoke. I did none of those things. But I do not disapprove of those things. I paid ten bucks to get in. Here's what I saw and did. I got up close to the fence. The fence is a snow fence type deal which keeps you back from danger, but you can see over it. (The fence was stolen, by the way, this year. A new fence arrived just in time for the event.) There's a pun in there somewhere about "fencing" a fence, but I can't set it up. Anyway I got up close to the fence and spent a nice time watching the catapults. Some were man powered. There were flywheels and springs, and windlasses, trebuchets, and all kinds of clever devices. They would chuck a pumpkin about five hundred to two thousand feet. Crazy crews in crazy costumes. Sometimes the pumpkins fragmented during the launch. People cheered for this more than for distance. Hence "Punkin Chunkin"

Then I wandered away from the range and into the midway. There were games and rides for the kids, and for adults who wanted to act like kids. A mechanical bull. A rock climb. Pumpkin toss. Pumpkin eating. Carnival rides. A food court full of tent booths. I had chocolate covered bacon for the first time. It was pretty good. Later I had candy coated almonds which were great. There were displays. There were two live bands. I watched and enjoyed them both. But I soon learned that it was all about the "cannons" which they save till the end of the day. I had picked up some of the culture and when I spoke to the venders for some reason I pretended I had been there for previous years. I would say things like "so when are they going to fire the cannons?" Or "will they start with 'old glory' down on the end?" I talked to a vender selling wood stoves. I looked at the wares of a vender selling solar panels. I looked at t shirts, ball caps, etc. but I didn't want a souvenir really. I was afraid the carnival food I had eaten might be enough of a memory to take home with me. I found a bale of straw to sit on for a while. I noticed the film crews and infield folks all moving in one direction and it was toward the line of gigantic air cannons that were to be the stars of the show. They did not disappoint. their barrels looked to be 40 feet and more. Their air tanks great giant cylinders. When they fired you could barely see the pumpkin it moved so fast. Often I missed it. But when I saw it, it would fade from my sight while it was still climbing. Several cannons shot their pumpkins over four thousand feet. It was a good time. After twenty one years on the Eastern Shore I may be starting to blend in. Maybe I shoulda got a ball cap.