There are certain cabin pitfalls to avoid as the sun goes
lower in the sky and the need for a warming wood fire grows more obvious in
your heart. That is also when the diving thermometer requires an occasional
late night trip to nourish the wood fire.
On one such recent excursion, I came across a painful
reminder that I was not the only guest in the cabin. I stepped on a large acorn evidently lost
during an excursion from the great outdoors to a secure indoor stash by a
trespassing friend. I use the term
loosely, for I assume I may have been the one regarded as the violator.
Acorns are extremely formidable structures consisting of an
almost impenetrable shell surrounding a valuable content intended for the
propagation of the Oak species. It is
surprising that the content can even emerge from the protective shell, seeing
as how it is tempered so much harder than the human foot. Bone bruises hurt. I understand the concept of “risk/reward”
relationship, but find it difficult to fathom why the critter would pick the
biggest and hardest acorn he could find.
I suppose it had something to do with cargo value. Anyway, I hope he’s satisfied.
Have you ever thought about the number of different Oak
species we have in our woods? I
understand that there are hundreds of species of Oak, but they can be readily identified
by leaf and the design of the fruit, or acorn.
Not many of us have purchased a bag of salted acorns to nibble on, but
acorns have been a substantial source of nourishment for humans as well as
other of nature’s creatures for thousands of years.
Come next Fall’s acorn drop, I may just go picking and get even.
