I can’t remember when they started falling. I think it must have been June.
And the acorns have been pelting down on our house ever since – with such a sound that it often makes us all jump.
And it’s not just the acorns that are besieging our home.
The squirrels have decided they need the whole branch as well.
And so our yard and driveway are covered in complete branches of oak trees.
Do they know something we don’t?
After last winter, are they taking no prisoners (or chances) when it comes to storing up enough food to see them through?
I have also seen many a squirrel forage around the forest floor, until his mouth is so full of leaves he can barely see, only to scurry up the nearest tree and deposit them into his nest.
Is he indeed preparing for what he anticipates to be more of the newly coined “polar vortexes”?
And I see it with the birds and the chipmunks too. Always busy, and yet I think even moreso this year. It’s like they don’t want to be caught empty handed when Mother Nature dishes out yet another month of wintry weather so cold it freezes the blood.
And I see it with horses too. Summer not even officially over and already they are growing in their winter coat. Velvety soft and ready to insulate at the drop of the thermometer.
The barn swallows left a long time ago. They didn’t want to hang around any longer than necessary – and I get it.
If I could, I probably would as well. Head for sunnier and warmer climes.
But as I am not a “snow bird” (yet, anyway) I am ready to dig out my long johns, call for an appointment to get my winter tires put on, crank up the furnace and turn on the fireplace, albeit reluctantly.
And keep my eye on the squirrels – because I think they do know something we don’t.