Birth of a White Oak

Last fall, acorns fell in abundance.

I put 4 of them in a pot on the windowsill in the laundry room.

The shells, which once defined them,

are now cracked and ready to be discarded 

but something amazing is happening from the inside out.

Textures by Kim Klassen

Autumn Oaks

Acorns have been falling in abundance this year.  Were it not for the crunch underfoot, and the popping on the roof, we'd know it by the pattern of the deer, who have been around our clearing less frequently, staying in the woods to eat their favorite snacks.  Of the approximately 60 species of oak in the US, 6 are common in our part of the Ozarks, and they are pictured below paired with their leaves.

Click on any photo for a larger image.

  

The lumber from the white oak has the tightest grain, and so is the most valuable for its ability to remain water tight, which is demonstrated by the fact that it is used as the staves for whiskey barrels and other fluids.  The acorns are the favorite of the white-tailed deer, and of our magnificent dog, Barley.

For Hannah Harper

Autumn Acorns

It's bright and breezy today, and acorns rain to the ground.

  Some show up still dressed in their jaunty hats, but the large white oak acorns, 

gentlemen that they are, usually doff their caps before they arrive. 

Like candy corn, they decorate the ground with their warm autumn hues.

The marks ringing their bare heads...

 match marks on the inside of the caps, 

as if they had been held together by tiny stitches.

 The fruit of the oak tree, the culmination?

Or the beginning?

 On the first and last photos, I used Kim Klassen's textures  yesteryear and stained linen.

Abundance

We walk across the yard to the crunch of acorns, and when the wind blows, a machine gun volley of acorns hits the roof.  This is the largest crop we recall seeing.  Barley samples one now and then.