I can picture a wooden bowl of mixed nuts, all in their shells. A hinged metal nutcracker (sold as a seafood cracking tool, too) at the ready. I can hear the splitting of a walnut shell. The resistance of an almond shell. The Brazil nuts were especially hard to crack.
Seems these days the nuts are already shelled.
I’m pretty sure I still have one in a kitchen drawer. Do you use a nutcracker?
This time of year you see the wooden decorative nutcrackers on a mantle or hanging nutcracker ornaments on a Christmas tree.
Squirrels! They ransack bird feeders. Had one in the fireplace the month of July a few years back. Steve had to take it down the street and he wore oven mitts and a parka in July, carrying a cage. Neighbors must have gotten a look. I am sure it ran right back to our house after he released it in the park. Some call them rats with bushy tails and they are from the order of rodentia. Their beady eyes dart about. But just look at where they live! The colors in person were even more alive. Fred Peterson, President of the Pittsburgh Poetry Society read a poem at Maker’s Mark about the delicacy at the family table- squirrel brains. Not part of my cultural upbringing so totally unappetizing to me. When Laura moved to an apartment in college, one of the housemates had one as a pet. This was a tree worth driving around the block. This is an unretouched photo taken on a glorious autumn afternoon. Closeup of nest- scroll down for second image
Seems a strong wind would undo the squirrel nest.
Wish I knew how high this branch is but taller than a third floor of a house.
