Mr. R.’s World of Math

I was still thinking about eating lunch when I realized I didn’t have much time to escape before they came back with the knife! Where was I gonna’ go? I looked all around but saw nowhere to hide. I sat there, worried when I had an idea.

I had noticed there was a basketball hoop in the driveway of the house, and I knew where there was a hoop, there must also be a ball. I looked around, and saw just who I was looking for. It was a new orange basketball which looked a lot like me (just not as pretty).

If you didn’t know this already, I should tell you that basketballs are distant cousins of pumpkins, and the fact we’re similar is no secret- you know, round, orange, and we only get used for one season…

I knew if I could get myself over to that basketball I could switch places with him, and I would be safe!
I decided to get closer to the basketball so I started to rock back and forth until I rolled off the porch. I rolled across the grass and right up to the basketball. I said ‘swoosh-pitter-pat,’ which meant ‘hello’ in basketball. The ball said, ‘swoosh-pitter-pat’ back to me.
Now trying to explain something to a basketball that doesn’t speak much pumpkin is not easy. As a matter of fact it’s nearly impossible, but I knew I didn’t have much time before lunch was over, and the carving would start, so I did my best.
After the basketball finally understood my problem, he was a little worried about switching places with me-especially because of the knife, but like any good cousin, he said he would help me. I thanked the basketball a thousand times as he bounced himself over to the porch and sat where I’d been sitting. I lay in the driveway acting as much like a basketball as a pumpkin can.

I was so nervous I was sweating pumpkin seeds! If I sweated 34 pumpkin seeds a minute, and I waited for half an hour, how many seeds had I sweated?