Remember the western movies where they had dynamite set to bring rocks down on the bad or good guys with that dynamite detonator? That's what comes to mind with a blow-up gnome. To be fair, the retrievals of blow-up gnome show happy balloon gnomes for the Christmas front yard. Gnomes are "believed to help Santa deliver toys on Christmas Eve." Christmas gnomes are good beings.
Take a simple turn right, and what do you find when you look for exploding gnomes? You get two things: the world of lawn gnomes exploding in slow motion on videos or video game conversations about how to explode the gnomes. Maybe the game is Explode Gnome - plants vs zombies: garden warfare 2.
Keep exploring and here's a much more interesting topic: "Peaceful Gnome" or "Project Gnome" - the project to explode nuclear devices underground as part of the nuclear testing in the US in 1958. It was part of "Project Plowshare." It was supposed to be testing to find peaceful uses for nuclear bombs.
"Gnome" was placed 1,184 feet underground at the end of a 1,115 ft tunnel that was supposed to be self-sealing upon detonation. Gnome was detonated on Dec 10, 1961 with the plan going otherwise than planned. Smoke and steam began to rise from the shaft, releasing radiation which was detected off-site. Big hole instead - 170 feet wide and 90 feet high. Read all the rest HERE in Wikipedia. The hole was filled up, but you can still visit the site today and read its historical plaque. That's in Loving, New Mexico. A perfect name.
I don't have any garden gnomes, even though they are well-represented in historical gardens.
My preference is for frogs and toads. This one is at Butchart Gardens and part of the one of the bronze fountains there.
