The Great Pumpkin Launch

My neighbor Zack is an engineer, and in October, he decided to build a trebuchet in his backyard. A trebuchet is a medieval siege weapon, the kind that throws rocks at castle walls. He wanted to throw pumpkins.

He recruited me, three other neighbors and every kid on the block. We spent four weekends building it out of lumber and bolts, with a long swinging arm and a counterweight made from a wooden box full of sandbags. It stood fifteen feet tall. The homeowners' association was not consulted.

On launch day, the whole street came out with lawn chairs. A farmer donated thirty pumpkins. We loaded the first one into the sling. Zack counted down from ten, and the kids screamed every number.

The arm swung up with a tremendous whoosh, and the pumpkin sailed over the back fence, across the empty field and landed with a glorious splat about two hundred feet away. Everyone went wild.

We launched all thirty. One little girl named every pumpkin before we threw it. "Goodbye, Steve!" The field looks like a pie exploded. We're planning a bigger one next year.