![Jim Gaffigan is baffled by the mania over pumpkins](https://assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com/hub/i/r/2022/10/08/b53133fa-f697-4982-a5b0-7e1c39410d3a/thumbnail/1200x630/0c36aebad9fe028a7e9b1bea7ee301e9/jim-gaffigan-a-1280.jpg)
Jim Gaffigan is baffled by the mania over pumpkins
CBSN
It's October, which means we are officially in pumpkin season, the strangest of all made-up seasons.
Humans are a strange animal, and Americans may be the oddest of the species. Pumpkin season is peak American weirdness. Over the next couple weeks, pumpkins will suddenly become ubiquitous. We'll see pumpkins as decorations everywhere – on doorsteps, at the end of driveways, on dinner tables, at reception desks, and other places you wouldn't normally just leave food lying around.
Everywhere!
![](/newspic/picid-6252001-20250214202746.jpg)
Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a high-stakes meeting at this year's Munich Security conference to discuss the Trump administration's efforts to end the war in Ukraine. Vance said the U.S. seeks a "durable" peace, while Zelenskyy expressed the desire for extensive discussions to prepare for any end to the conflict.
![](/newspic/picid-6252001-20250214133557.jpg)
Washington — The Trump administration on Thursday intensified its sweeping efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce, the nation's largest employer, by ordering agencies to lay off nearly all probationary employees who hadn't yet gained civil service protection - potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of workers.
![](/newspic/picid-6252001-20250214133528.jpg)
It was Labor Day weekend 2003 when Matt Scribner, a local horse farrier and trainer who also competes in long-distance horse races, was on his usual ride in a remote part of the Sierra Nevada foothills — just a few miles northeast of Auburn, California —when he noticed a freshly dug hole along the trail that piqued his curiosity.