squash circles

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Okay, y'all. I need witnesses. Something very strange happened in my kitchen last night while I was sleeping.
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I'm pretty sure aliens invaded my squash.

Okay, let me explain. Seriously, this is too weird.

That big lumpy bluish-green object to the left of the perky little acorn squash is a hubbard squash. Now, don't feel dim if you didn't know that; it's not your fault. Our grandmas probably knew hubbards on sight, but these days they are rare. Farmers have practically stopped growing them (and most of the other bazillion varieties God gave us for our squashy amusement) because apparently most modern grocery shoppers are disinclined toward inviting lumpy bluish-green pods into their homes. I guess the popular acorn squash, looking so much like artsy baby pumpkins, just come off less threatening.

But being sort of an odd squash myself, I get all goofy and enthused about weird produce. And sometimes I get to feeling all crusaderish about all the hundreds of vegetable varieties going extinct every year. So every autumn I look for odd squash, and for some time I've secretly hoped to score a hubbard. Well, this was my year. The nice farmers' market dude told me he had gotten a dozen or so this season (he was pretty excited about it, too) and that I was lucky to get his last one. Happy me..

Now here's the creepy part.

This morning, I wandered all bleary-eyed into the kitchen, and there it was. . A crop circle on my hubbard squash. For real. You do see it, don't you? Tell me it's not just me.
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Here's a close-up:

Is that not just about the strangest thing you ever saw? I mean, those are near perfect concentric circles. And they weren't there yesterday. I promise they're not drawn on or anything -- they're part of the pigment of the squash rind. They're actually more pronounced than the photo shows -- the light from the window diffused them a good bit.

Maybe there's a reason why hubbards are rare.

Maybe nice farmers' market dude is actually one of... them. You know, you can never be too sure about odd squash pushers. .

Might ought to go check your produce, people. And watch for strange lights in the sky over your house. And if you don't see me blogging for several days... well, I'm just sayin'.