Gift #727: Acorns, acorns everywhere

The life of an acorn gatherer is hard.  The gatherer of acorns (or other nuts) must expend considerable energy running around looking for them, examining them for imperfections or mold, and hiding the stores away from other interested parties.  the world recedes away as each day becomes nothing more than an acorn-hunt.  Each acorn found requires complex decision-making skills to determine if it’s a good nut, if it should be kept, and where.  There are concerns about keeping one’s hoard safe from competitors – is it best to keep them in one large cache and watch it like a hawk? Or is it a better strategy to keep smaller piles hidden in multiple locations.  These are all important considerations for so valuable a treasure.

Not only is there all this for acorn gatherers to deal with, but then there’s the constant fear of exposure, of the censure of coworkers and friends when one is discovered grubbing in the dirt for acorns.  What?  You thought I was talking about squirrels?  Oh no no my dear readers, I was describing myself.  Squirrels recognize and fear me as their main source of competition.  (In fact, squirrels commonly refer to me as “Squirrel-bane” and “Acorn Thief”)  This is of course unwarranted, as I typically do leave a few acorns for the squirrels – I’m of a generous nature.  We won’t discuss what my co-workers call me when I’ve been spied gathering acorns.  I don’t leave any acorns for them.  Clearly they don’t appreciate them.

The problem is that I live in prime acorn territory and it’s impossible to pass by them without picking up a handful.  Every day at work, my walk from the parking garage takes me by trees that have produced a bumper crop of acorns.  Frequent hikes in the wood fuel the acorn obsession with so many beautiful acorns and caps just lying on the ground everywhere!

 

And it’s great exercise to bend down to pick them, then stand up, walk two feet and bend down again. Better than toe-touch stretches.   I’ve adopted the multi-stash philosophy on acorn storage.  Little baggies of acorns are scattered throughout the house.  My purse and coat pockets are recruited to hold acorns.  And my big bag of acorns and caps from Spring Mill is sitting on the table as I contemplate what to do with them.  Caution is warranted though as my lucrative hoard has attracted the attention of bushy-tailed rodents.  They come to the back glass door and stare inside at my acorns.  And they are plotting my dear readers… I can tell.  I’ll need to adopt a disguise to fool them.  Now that I think on it, my nose has been twitching for a while.  I wonder if I’m sprouting a tail.  Yipes!  Perhaps my acorn-gathering ways have caught up to me.  Oh, what’s that on the ground… Is that an acorn?

Blessings to you,

Sarah