I had despaired of finding hickory nuts this fall since we got back from Manitoulin long after the squirrels got into the trees. But, today, on our walk in the prairie, we passed under the majestic hickory I have probably showed off here before, only to hear thwaps and whallops of something falling from the sky whenever wind shook the tree limbs.

Although the squirrels (and weevils) had been busy, as evidenced by all the shrapnel and drilled nuts lying on the sidewalk, when we went off the path and into the goldenrod we were able to collect a good number of what might be viable seeds, especially since some of them fell as we were gathering.

The experience of standing under hickory rain made me remember the hickory tree at the lake end of the sidewalk, by Wolf’s, in Crystal Lake. I’m almost certain I remember listening to nut drop under that tree, and I am certain we harvested the nuts and ate them.