the Walnut Diary

Every day for the last week I have asked myself the question: “What are you going to do today to take advantage of this wonderful weather before it ends?

A Pilgrimage:

For years my thoughts have returned to the rugged landscape of Bedford Township where my first memories were formed. This morning Bet packed me a lunch and off I went in the Kioti. The trip up Hwy 42 and through the back roads to Blair’s School and up the McAndrews road to Devil Lake went smoothly. The day was lovely, I found a great new trail and rediscovered the one over the tallest ridge which I used to travel with my VW Beetle while hunting. Only ATVs use it now. Unlike the fall of my twelfth year when I learned to drive on the abandoned side-road, MacCann Road is kept in great condition all the way to the lake now, as the region has become a residential area for those who prefer rock ridges and oak trees to neighbours.

A stop at Blair’s School and playing with the Kioti

Stealing from red squirrels:

This fall I have come across a number of large caches of walnuts lying on the ground in my woodlot. Red squirrels defend their selected walnut trees so aggressively that the Grey squirrels stay away. But the Greys scatter-cache their harvest, effectively planting the majority of the nuts to encourage further growth. The reds larder-hoard their takings in hollow trees and in piles on the ground where few nuts have a prospect of growth.

Roz accused me of socialism, but for the last week I have collected piles of nuts and redistributed them to areas of the woodlot accessible to the Greys so that they can plant them, and passed a few pails along to neighbours for similar use in areas depleted by dying ash and maple trees.