Acorns and Oaks

Acorns and Oaks
            As I walked from the farmhouse to the river I could look up into the cathedral-like ceiling of oak and maple branches from the grand old trees that lined the path and surrounded the farmstead. When my great grandfather had homesteaded the 360 acre farm in the 1890’s he left about an acre or two of the oak and maple trees that were already many years old to shade his farmhouse in the summer. When I started walking the path I was maybe only seven or eight years old and the ancient trees were magical with the scars of many years of hard living showing in the rough bark and scabs where branches had broken off over the years.
            The trees shed acorns by the hundreds each year and the animals loved coming for the precious nuts in the late summer and fall. Usually we associate only squirrels with the gathering of acorns but I learned firsthand that birds, including blue jays and many songbirds, loved the acorns and pecked the nuts to get at the delicious meat inside. Whitetail deer gathered at dusk to dine on the buffet.                   
  Black Phase Grey squirrel
            I was too inexperienced in life to take advantage of an offer my grandmother made me when I got out of the service. She offered me land to build on and live by the farm and hopefully appreciate it as she had all her life. I turned the offer down and now, as I reflect on that decision, my memories are all that’s really left of that farm and my times there. The land was sold off piecemeal to pay taxes and eventually the old farmhouse deteriorated until there is only a shell left and a few acres waiting to be sold. I rarely go there because it actually hurts to see what it has become compared to my memories of the wonderful place it was. The last time we were there I took a few pictures and the mighty oaks are still there, for now, but I don’t know how long they will last.

The Old Farmhouse and the oak grove.
            I have several oak trees in my back yard and I am watching the squirrels, deer and birds, especially the turkeys which are relatively new here, go after the acorns just as I remember they did at the farm all those years ago.
Chris