The Not-So-Great Pumpkin

When I lived up in Michigan I could drag Linus out of the pumpkin patch by his blanket and have my choice of great pumpkins to carve the first weekend in October. The air was cool and crisp and conducive to big orange gourds with gaping holes sitting out on the porch for weeks at a time. But now I live in Florida and have only about a two hour window of opportunity before my creation begins to fester and rot into a big moldy blob due to the heat. My pumpkin will never see the darkness of Halloween night if I start carving today. Boo!