Although I grew up in the country, I have never lived around oak trees. So when we moved into this house in August, I was surprised to learn that living near oaks is unlike living near any other kind of tree I’d ever been around. Let me go back in time a bit. It is the first morning after our first night stay in this house. After a very long day moving, we were extremely physically and mentally exhausted. I figured Kelly must be, too. So I was very surprised to realize he was already up and out of bed, though it was still pretty dark outside. I asked him what time it was – he answered, “5:30.” As in, AM. Ugh. I noticed through the dark room that Kelly was standing peering out of one of the large windows of the bedroom, toward the woods. Weird. “What are you looking at?” I queried. “There’s someone out there” he responded quietly. My sleep-induced fog lifted instantly. “Are you sure?” “Yeah, I can hear someone throwing rocks at our house. Listen!” I was quiet as I listened for any noise through the open windows. Sure enough, a few seconds later, the pitter patter of something falling through the leaf canopy could be heard, and a “thunk” was heard as it hit our roof and bounced off, landing on the deck. Shortly after that, I heard it again. Then another time after that. “I’m going down to the deck to see what it is” Kelly muttered as he headed out of the room. I stood still by the windows, looking and listening to the sound of the mystery objects still dropping through the canopy. First day back in the country after two decades of city living, and we end up neighbors to some nutty kid who thinks it’s funny to sling rocks at our house? It seemed way too early for any kid to be up, even a mischievous one. A short while later, Kelly returned, looking sheepish. “It’s an acorn” he stated simply.
The woods outside were gradually growing lighter. I could see squirrels chasing each other up and around and across tree limbs. “I suppose the squirrels could be biting them off and dropping them,” I mention. “It must be easier to pick them up off the ground than carry them all down.” And so the very first mystery of our very first night stay was solved. The “nutty kids” were squirrels, doing what squirrels do best. Gathering food. I guess I still had a lot to learn about country living.
What I also didn’t realize when we first moved here was that not only do oak trees drop acorns incessantly, and lots of them, loudly and at all hours of the day and night, making us jump every time one of them dislodged and came bouncing off the car or deck or rooftop, they also drop lots of other things. Leaves. Branches. Sap. Our two cars, parked in the driveway, wore a constant sticky coat that bees just loved. Mostly hornets. Ug. Sometimes I swept the driveway clear of everything – the acorns, the branches, the leaves. But by the next day it was as if I had done nothing. And when summer turned into fall, well, forget it, it would be a full time job to keep it all clear. But we did discover something useful – the leaves that fell on the front porch and back deck could be easily swept up onto a tarp and dragged over to mulch the dirt area around the fire pit, an area we wished to keep clear of the weeds that we had so painstakingly cleared out upon our arrival. A nice big batch of leaves for the mulch, and only a few sweeps of a broom to collect them. I learned to appreciate piles of leaves on the decks. Easy mulch.
I also started picking up acorns whenever I was outside, and placing them in a basket in the living room. They looked so earthy, and reminded me of my connection to the woods and my gratitude for this country home. The cat loves to fish them out from time to time and chase them around the living room. I was curious to see if there were any other cool ways to display oak tree gifts – leaves, acorns, branches, so I Googled acorns and came across an astonishing fact – native Americans considered acorns to be one of their most important food crops! In fact they referred to them as Grain of the Trees. I found recipes for creating acorn flour by drying them, cracking them out of their shells, then soaking them to leach out the tannins and then drying them again, finally grinding them into acorn flour. And people still do this! I had no idea.
I can’t say that I have collected a crop of acorns to dry and process… yet. But the idea intrigues me. Here I am, in the woods, surrounded by food, falling abundantly from the trees around me. Another example of how we often miss the abundance of what is right at hand. But a little early-morning lesson from a nutty, furry neighbor reminds me to pay attention, and be aware of the blessings all around me.
The woods outside were gradually growing lighter. I could see squirrels chasing each other up and around and across tree limbs. “I suppose the squirrels could be biting them off and dropping them,” I mention. “It must be easier to pick them up off the ground than carry them all down.” And so the very first mystery of our very first night stay was solved. The “nutty kids” were squirrels, doing what squirrels do best. Gathering food. I guess I still had a lot to learn about country living.
What I also didn’t realize when we first moved here was that not only do oak trees drop acorns incessantly, and lots of them, loudly and at all hours of the day and night, making us jump every time one of them dislodged and came bouncing off the car or deck or rooftop, they also drop lots of other things. Leaves. Branches. Sap. Our two cars, parked in the driveway, wore a constant sticky coat that bees just loved. Mostly hornets. Ug. Sometimes I swept the driveway clear of everything – the acorns, the branches, the leaves. But by the next day it was as if I had done nothing. And when summer turned into fall, well, forget it, it would be a full time job to keep it all clear. But we did discover something useful – the leaves that fell on the front porch and back deck could be easily swept up onto a tarp and dragged over to mulch the dirt area around the fire pit, an area we wished to keep clear of the weeds that we had so painstakingly cleared out upon our arrival. A nice big batch of leaves for the mulch, and only a few sweeps of a broom to collect them. I learned to appreciate piles of leaves on the decks. Easy mulch.
I also started picking up acorns whenever I was outside, and placing them in a basket in the living room. They looked so earthy, and reminded me of my connection to the woods and my gratitude for this country home. The cat loves to fish them out from time to time and chase them around the living room. I was curious to see if there were any other cool ways to display oak tree gifts – leaves, acorns, branches, so I Googled acorns and came across an astonishing fact – native Americans considered acorns to be one of their most important food crops! In fact they referred to them as Grain of the Trees. I found recipes for creating acorn flour by drying them, cracking them out of their shells, then soaking them to leach out the tannins and then drying them again, finally grinding them into acorn flour. And people still do this! I had no idea.
I can’t say that I have collected a crop of acorns to dry and process… yet. But the idea intrigues me. Here I am, in the woods, surrounded by food, falling abundantly from the trees around me. Another example of how we often miss the abundance of what is right at hand. But a little early-morning lesson from a nutty, furry neighbor reminds me to pay attention, and be aware of the blessings all around me. 
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