black walnut reign...

Every Autumn it rains black walnuts, and this is what they look like after the squirrels have had their fill. (You can see the incisor marks if you look carefully at the shell.)  And every Autumn I take my chances walking out of the house. This season I have not had a black walnut land on my head. Last year, the tree got me twice. In its full paratrooper outfit, a black walnut resembles a green baseball...regulation size.

When the nutty artillery falls fifty feet, it does leave an impression. Every year I think of paying someone to cut down this huge tree, and then I change my mind. If the walnuts disappeared, our driveway would probably look much cleaner.

Every year, I somehow manage to let the tree have its fun. Maybe next year I will dust off my old baseball glove, and sit under the tree.