Life in the Bristolwood

Last night, as Mark and I were sitting in the truck, waiting for the kids as they shopped inside Target , he looked at me and asked where did the little kids go? In all honesty, I rarely think about this, as I enjoy the kids more and more as they get more independent.

This morning, though, as I was talking to Carly on the telephone,  I wandered around by the house.  As I walked along one of the trails, I spotted some acorns on the ground. Without hesitation, I bent over and scooped up a handful and examined how pretty they are. As I was thinking about this, my mind wandered back to the times when the kids were little and they would gather buckets full of acorns.

When I quizzed them about what they were going to do with all their booty, they would tell me they didn’t know! I do remember them planting many of their acorns, hoping to grow another oak tree.

As I was thinking about trees and acorns, I wondered how my hickory nuts were doing…if click to enlarge this photo, you can see several nice hickory nuts up there! I watch those nuts closely, but am convinced the local squirrel population  is actually watching even more acutely than I. Last year, as the nuts fell to the ground, I am convinced the squirrels were underneath the trees with tiny baskets held firmly in their paws, catching each and every nut as it fell…

I did manage to walk around this tree and find two nuts from last year that were all dried up. I peeled the shell off the one on the left to expose just the nut. We have lived here in the Bistolwood for almost 15 years now, and it wasn’t until about 2 or 3 years ago that I discovered these nuts were actually edible. My father cracked one open and ate it! I was dumbfounded…he then cracked one for me, and I was in awe that I had a harvest of these delicious little nuts for all those years, going to waste!

While I was on the driveway, taking the picture of the hickory nuts, I spotted the prettiest little natural still life…

That is a fungus…mushroom…whatever…growing next to the driveway. I loved the way the contrasting leaves were just “there”. Ben thought I had lost all of my bearings as I plopped almost in a prone position to capture this little “find”.

I walked back to the house and just loved the way the sun was catching the Scottie weathervane.

It is getting really hot already, and it is only a little past 10 am. I dread this weather, as yesterday, I felt actually sickened by it.  I was happy to get out and enjoy some time walking about a bit before the sun began beating down!  I am so grateful for the trees that surround us! Even though it was unbearable at my mother-in-law’s home near the city, I am thinking the temperature wasn’t as hot here.  As we drove closer to our home last night, the temperature actually dropped as we came nearer. It was about 10 degrees cooler than near the city.