Mushroom Pumpkins

It will be interesting to hear what kids see in this photo.

It’s mummy hat.

It’s a mushroom.

It’s a space shuttle.

It’s a toy.

It’s a pumpkin.

Answers will be based on their age and living conditions. The pastor’s grandson is used to his grandmother and aunts wearing hats on Sunday. Children whose mothers wear baseball caps or traditional and religious head ties will not see a hat. Country kids might say it’s a mushroom because they take walks in the woods and see all kinds of mushrooms. City kids who go shopping with parents might also recognize mushrooms from the vegetable section.

Space shuttle and toys. Some kids grew up on with toys. They might have two or three boxes full of toys with different shapes. One of them might look like soldiers’ shields from the eighteenth century. Kids who see a pumpkin might be country kids who see pumpkins all the time in the back yard or fields. City kids can also identify with pumpkins because of Halloween. This unique pumpkin with the green bottom, might be a novelty. They’ve never seen one like that before.

It is up to parents to explain nature’s secrets, try to figure out what came first, the multi-colored bottom, or the perfect orange circle on top. It might look like a pot with a lid, but it’s not that simple. Your explanation is real life. They’ll get such questions in all subjects in school, at work or the football coach. Maybe that’s why nature creates ornamental art, like this pumpkin to force us to think about night and day, stars and ants.

By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.