When we gathered acorns for acorn muffins last year, I don’t know that I intended it to be an every year thing. Yes, it was fun. Yes, they were yummy. Yes, I felt like it would be worth doing sometime in the indefinite future… But in this year of extreme business, it surely wasn’t in the forefront of my mind. And yet, as soon as the first earth bound acorn was spotted, certain creatures started scurrying to gather them, the little two-legged creatures of my house being some of the most productive among them. And many a handful came in, and was presented to me as if a great honor, being deemed “for acorn muffins”. After the 11th or 12th occurrence of this sort, I resigned myself to the fact that evidently I was making acorn muffins this year.

And the children have taken to gathering with great determination.

These are from two days worth of gathering. Now they’ve made it into a contest with a score for each. From here on out, the goal is to see who can make it to 1000 first. They are neck and neck and alarmingly close. Every time they come in, glowing with the thrill of the hunt and baskets full of bountiful treasure, I have to remind myself to quiet the part of my brain telling me that we are going to have pry off the caps and break open the shell of each and every one of them…and then comes the days and days of soaking, with frequent water changes and then drying before grinding and finally baking, with the meager amount that remains. No, this won’t be a substantial contribution to our own stores of winter food (and I’m starting to feel a bit of concern for our furry friends outside, who must surely be starting to wonder about the severely depleted harvest). But there is other value here. My children are amazed and excited about the bounty nature has provided them. They are living in to the cycle of the year. And as a family we are (apparently!) creating new traditions. And those things are important too.

So, while it will be more work for me, which is not a thought I relish, perhaps the returns are quite, quite enough after-all…so much more then a few cups of flour. And in the meantime, I’m leaving the lion’s share of the gathering to my little forest children three. Two days ago, I took a book on our walk and let them scurry about me while I sat on a rock and rested and read. And while I didn’t get further then a page or two (with all of the exclamations of “Oh Mama, look at how perfect this one is!”) it was nice to sit and rest.

Current reading, for those interested, is “Three Cups of Tea” by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. I have it as part of a book exchange with some friends and am finding it to be quite an interesting read.