The Great Acorn Hunt

 I don't know how it began. Dad and Teagan went out to lunch and a trip to the park on a weekend. They came back talking about planting trees. I was briefly consulted. My input into the proceedings was to suggest that it is best not to plant within thirty feet of the house. 

The next thing I know Dad has stepped off and marked a place for three trees to be planted. I would discover that on one of their trips they had collected three acorns from a local park. I get online and become an expert on planting oaks. My grandfather once installed a working knowledge of how to identify trees by the shapes of their leaves. All these years later I know the difference between trees with needles and trees with leaves. I redeem myself ever so slightly that I can identify poison oak and poison ivy at a distance. 

Turns out that it is the right time of year to plant an oak tree. This makes total sense as it is also the time of year when acorns are plentiful on the ground. I also find out that you can determine a viable acorn by dropping it in a bowl of cold water. The good ones rest on the bottom. The bad ones float. Know you know as well. 

I had been puzzling at why Dad wanted to plant three trees. We have an oak in our yard near the road. We have a pear tree near the house which is the only fruit tree to survive from when we planted them back in the early nineties. As I mentioned earlier the kid had brought back three acorns. When we preformed the float test only one of those was viable. Teagan and Whitneigh remedied this by collecting up a dozen or so acorns from our oak. We ended up with several viable acorns to plant but only put three in the ground. Only one of those was an acorn from the park. 

It got me thinking. I enjoy my woods. I'd love to have more trees and less grass that needs mowing. Since the beetles have been killing off the pines around here it might be worth bringing in a few other species of tree. More importantly though, it allowed me to con Teagan in to daily trips to different parks. 

Which is what we have done with fall break. Acorns are a bit of a rare thing as it turns out. We have been to four parks in the last few days and only come up with Acorns at one park. I did come home with a decent amount of maple seed pods. I have always been a big fan of the whirlgig seeds. I could do with a few more maples around here. Apparently, from the research I have done, germinating maple seeds is super easy. 

We have swung on plenty of swings, gotten lots of steps, and been down more than a few slides on our hunts. We have stopped for a treat or two on the way as well. I have no idea if these acorns will ever become mighty oaks. I do know that we won't find out much until next year around this time, but the hunt itself has been a great success. Teagan and I have had a great time together. I have been out of the house without feeling any anxiety or stress for the first time in several years. We might also have made a memory or two. 

I think for the rest of fall we will keep hunting acorns with a side of maple seeds. I cannot expect to draft off of Dad and Teagan's adventures for winter and spring. I guess I will start brainstorming now.