Awakenings and her sister site, catnipoflife, are both conscientious about life’s connections to the past and those subtle appearances that expose nature as a diamond in the rough. There is so much raw beauty surrounding us on a daily basis that too often goes completely unnoticed. Take something as simple as the mere acorn. . . what impact does it have on the past, present or even the future?
Article from the Massachusetts Audubon Society:
Believe it or not, acorns are quite a controversial subject. Everyone believes absolutely that huge acorns predict a heavy winter. Of course, since most of our winters are pretty bad, you have a good chance of being right regardless, but this is an article from the Audubon society in which it takes on the divisive issue or the season: What do those huge acorns really mean?
See on www.massaudubon.org
catnipoflife 
Persimmon seeds are another legendary predictor of the winter to come. If you break open the seed, you will see internal white objects that resemble utensils. Each utensil signals the sort of winter about to dawn. For example, a spoon shape signifies a heavy winter requiring plenty of time with a shovel. Here’s a link that explains it all: http://www.almanac.com/content/predicting-weather-using-persimmon-seed. I admire science but legends are fun, too.
Thank you, Connye! Always love to learn something new. Definitely will visit the site:>)
Interesting post. I’ve heard that the size of the brown stripes on woolly bear caterpillars determines whether or not the coming winter will be mild, but I think that has been disproved. Regardless, it’s fun to speculate — even though I can’t see myself measuring caterpillars to determine whether or not to buy a heavy coat!
Yes, I’ve heard the wooly caterpillar tale, too. I like the mythology. Thinking of early settlers trying to make sense of their world and predict the season to come catches fire in my imagination.
Early settlers? How about right now residents? New Englanders are obsessed by weather. They absolutely believe in omens and portents and if you watch the weather reports around here, you’d know that omens and portents are at least as accurate!
There are about 6 typos in those few sentences. I can’t fix them because they are on your site now, but sweetie, would you go fix them? Because they make me feel like an illiterate. Arrgh!!!!
Marilyn, some I can correct but of course the way it was written initially will appear in the actual article. At least what we have on our site will be correct. I did catch the misspelling of ‘course’. You can go into your posting on Scoop.it and make that correction and any others so at least it will be reflected properly. Let me know if you see some I missed. I did do some rewording that just didn’t sound right even in my own introduction. I posted it too quickly this morning when I took a break from my teachers. It has been a very trying day! What is it about a reading course that demands the element of reading? DUH!
i’ve never heard that theory but it would make sense to fatten up those squirrels through the season!
The comments have been as interesting as the original article! Fat squirrels with long bushy tails:>)
I’d never heard that before, but our local weatherman is predicting 60″ of snow for our area this winter as compared to 20+ last winter and an average annual snowfall of 40″!
OMG! We panic if we have 2″…cannot imagine 60! WHOA! Get out of town!
One of the luxuries I’ve discovered in retirement is an attitude not to complicate life. While working I would stress out about weather, traffic & the economy. Now I join my seniors group at McDonald’s each morning with the important task of solving all the world’s problems on a daily basis. It’s a tough job but somebody has to do it! 🙂
Oregon is beautiful this time of the year. In my back yard I have a flock of Mallard ducks and a family of 4 Canadian geese that leave the area only long enough to avoid the short cold spell we experience between the continuous rain we’re known for here. The beautiful pond and walking path in my yard is strewn with pine cones, acorns & buckeyes. The colorful leaves are falling already and add a carpet of red, green & gold to a magical place.
How can anything be wrong in the world when God provides us all with signs that He still loves us and provides for all our needs? I am truly blessed!
You are blessed indeed! Love the description…could easily visualize:>)
Very interesting! We have a plethora of acorns falling from the trees this year and covering our yard. The neighbor says it happens in a cycle every two years, so don’t know what that means for our winter weather forecast. But last year was a monster winter for storms here and we had very little acorn fall during autumn?
Nice reminder of how easy it is to overlook those little simple and beautiful things that God places before us each day. Thank you for sharing and the reminder!
Yep, it is the simple things right under the nose that sometimes go unnoticed. Treasure the moment for it passes all too quickly!
It made me smile seeing this picture. What is it that makes me love acorns so much?
It is the season…autumn is fantastically beautiful!
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