The sky was a blue canopy arching over the thirsty flower beds. It was time to water my front yard plants. It has been a while since we’ve had rain and those flowers were looking pretty droopy. So, I grabbed my trusty garden hose and dragged it toward the oak and the marigolds, petunias, and bee balm planted there. The hose had only three small pin holes in it but water sprayed through them giving my jeans a good soaking. No matter. It’s a little late in the season to buy a new hose, so I persevered.
Watching the thirsty soil soak up the water, I was lost in thought when something whacked me on top of the head. Help! The sky was falling. Who should I tell? Where should I run? Gazing down at my feet, expecting to see a huge hunk of blue sky, I saw an acorn. Shades of Chicken Little! I had been struck by a sign of fall.
Were more acorns in the tree just waiting for an unsuspecting gardener to pass beneath them? I stared upward. Yes. A good crop of small nuts adorned the limbs of that lofty oak.
Each year, I search for clues to tell me whether the coming winter will be a hard, cold one. Are the squirrels sporting furrier coats? How about the band around the middle of a wooly caterpillar? Will the persimmon seeds contain a fork, a spoon, or a knife? Does the autumn breeze hold a hint of coming snow? If a plentiful supply of acorns for hungry squirrels is a sign of a hard winter, then we’d better get out our snow shovels.
I like weather. I enjoy the changing seasons. Weather plays a big part in each Darcy and Flora and Ned cozy mystery. A story just seems to go better when it is set against a blizzard or the rainiest July in history.
As we venture further into the first autumn month, I hope your day is filled with pleasant happenings and you are not bombarded by adventuresome acorns. It’s a good day to settle in with a book and let your imagination soar. On this day as on every day, may all the mysteries you encounter be cozy ones.
Not that I want to see your noggin bombarded, but I’m glad it isn’t just me. I thought the neighborhood squirrels had ganged up on me to declare War, as I really got a volley of acorns fall on me while I was watering my flowers.
I wonder if there’s an abundance and the trees are dropping some to conserve food or if something is wrong with the acorns and that’s why they are dropping, or maybe they do this each year and I haven’t noticed. Anyway, I’m glad you survived the bombardment. And, I’m sure the squirrels are already checking them out.