Pumpkins are a blast

October has always been one of my favorite months, and among the reasons is the prevalence of pumpkins.

I love just about any kind of food with pumpkin in it. I was delighted the other day when I went to Starbucks for coffee and saw the pumpkin bread, pumpkin scones and pumpkin muffins beckoning from behind the glass.

Pumpkins also evoke fond childhood memories of bountiful harvests of candy on Halloween and that classic Peanuts TV special It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Even at 51, I still enjoy going to the pumpkin patch, picking out the "perfect" one, and then waiting until just before dusk on Halloween to carve it.

I love this time of year, when pumpkins large and small appear on doorsteps and in yards everywhere, providing that last splash of color before the faded palette of autumn yields to the starkness of winter.

So, in tribute to the great pumpkin, here's a time-lapse video showing the growth of one of the giants in its field. And what do you do with a pumpkin that weighs nearly 1,000 pounds after it's won you a ribbon at the county fair? Well, I wouldn't know firsthand, since as I have mentioned, I'm incapable of growing anything, but apparently it's nothing that a half-pound of TNT can't solve.