👉 Okay, let’s tackle this wonderfully prickly little mouthful! When you hear the decidedly unglamorous designation of a "Mexican Creeper," we absolutely
don’t
mean that anyone is actually being from Mexico and secretly nefarious (though honestly? Never say never. Bureaucracy exists everywhere, even in pretty hammocking situations). 😂
Instead, it affectionately, and sometimes rather mockingly, refers to the mottled butternut squash. Yep! That cheerfully bumpy, vaguely hysterical-looking gourd. Botanists have a fancy mouthful for the exact pattern of its blemishes – a lichen polymorphism, basically saying they look like little, poorly-painted shingles on a house. Hence, the nickname. It’s said to come from early American settlers who found it in areas with a Mexican settlement and, frankly, just weren't that terribly observant or imaginative when naming things. Colonial nicknames are the worst! Basically, you squint at the squash, you see those brown blotches, and then someone, probably with a vintage-era folksy chuckle, cheerfully proclaims, "That there is a Mexican Creeper!" 60% of the time they're joking. I sincerely hope that was clear. Let’s move on from that. --- Now here’s an unsettling sentence, just for you (I wouldn't actually use this unless I was trying to build serious dread!): The old woman stared out the rain-slicked porch of her farmhouse, convinced
