Of Acorns
We went over to daughter and SIL's house today to celebrate grandsons' 15th birthday. Where did the time go ?
Just yesterday he was the darling little boy riding in the little red wagon that got away from him on the steep driveway and he clapped and shrieked with pleasure as the wagon rolled down and flipped onto the sidewalk, landing "feet first" on all four wheels.
Now he is a high school freshman with his first girlfriend. :)
Anyway at their house there is a huge old oak tree in the front yard. I never saw such a bumper crop of acorns all over the sidewalk and driveway. Slick as marbles. Son in law graciously gave me his arm when we left so I would not slip on the nuts. I told him that a super bumper crop of acorns means a cold cold winter.
Is that true or just an "old wives tale." I should look it up.
I did look it up. See below:
20 Signs of A Hard Winter.
Thicker than normal corn husks
Woodpeckers sharing a tree
Early arrival of the Snowy owl
Early departure of geese and ducks
Early migration of the Monarch butterfly
Thick hair on the nape (back) of the cow’s neck
Heavy and numerous fogs during August
Raccoons with thick tails and bright bands
Mice eating ravenously into the home
Early arrival of crickets on the hearth
Spiders spinning larger than usual webs and entering the house in great numbers
Pigs gathering sticks
Insects marching a bee line rather than meandering
Early seclusion of bees within the hive
Unusual abundance of acorns
Muskrats burrowing holes high on the river hank
“See how high the hornet’s nest, ‘twill tell how high the snow will rest”
Narrow orange band in the middle of the Woollybear caterpillar warns of heavy snow; fat
and fuzzy caterpillars presage bitter cold
The squirrel gathers nuts early to fortify against a hard winter
Frequent halos or rings around sun or moon forecast numerous snow falls.'
from "The Farmers' Almanac"
7 comments:
I had always heard about acorns, squirrels and caterpillars, but none of the rest. We have oodles of acorns here this year, and I told my husband just a few days ago that it presaged a cold winter. Brrrr.
My grandmother knew all these signs and pointed them out to us. She also woke us in the middle of the night to see the NC sky bright red - a singular appearance of the aurora borealis so far south. We are so far from that connection to the earth and it's a shame, for there's such poetry in your list.
Wow, what a list. I hadn't heard of most of these...nor the acorns. My good friend told me she heard we were going to have a worse winter than last year...hard to imagine, and news I really didn't want to hear. I hope to God she's wrong.
Please say it isn't so - another cold winter. I lost almost all of my plants last winter for the first time since moving here. The climate, "she's a changin'".
Chancy--I don't much believe in "signs" when it comes to long-term weather; but, I had a delightful few minutes, yesterday, watching a blue jay plant acorns in our yard and a couple of squirrels planting black walnuts.
Cop Car
P.S. Usually the "word verification" constructs are not meaningful. This time, it is "onion". Is this a sign that I should be out planting onions (or pulling the last two from my garden?) *giggling*
My immediate reaction to your question was "yes" based on many of these items my mother spoke of. She grew up on a Northern Ohio farm, experienced them, and when she would relate some of them later to me in response to our then current weather expectations, they surprisingly often proved true.
I think they're more than 'old wives tales' or superstitions, but are based on nature's behaviors which animals and plants sense better than humans.
I always get annoyed with how humans have foiled the predictive aspect of the groundhog seeing his shadow by dragging him out of his burrow instead of waiting to see when he emerges naturally. They've turned that whole event into a farce strictly for commercial purposes. I'm constantly amazed anyone pays any attention to it.
All of them are are alive and well in Ohio. All I have to do is go to my OWS rally and I know it's pretty dang cold.
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