Nuts

I have three black-walnut trees on my property. They border the side street and have been here since I moved in, over 35 years ago.

Predictably, they produce walnuts. The walnuts get picked up by me and hauled off by the garbage man. A few get filched by the squirrels. More than a few rot so quickly the outer husk (the green part) cracks open and I only have to deal with the black nut. At least the meat nuts are lightweight and small. Easy to bag up. The chore is not quite so odious as some folks seem to imagine.

I use a litter-picker-upper and one-time plastic bags. When I fill the bag, I tie it off and set it in the driveway for garbage day. I can haul off maybe ten bags at a time of the twenty or more bags I’ll fill over the weeks.

It’s not hard. I get outside, usually in the morning. It is a pleasant time of day to be outside with relatively light city noise or traffic along the side street. I’m out in the fresh air. I might chat with a neighbor.

Beats starting the day indoors.

More than a few city folks suggest I should bust them open and enjoy the walnut. Not all that strangely, I don’t eat a lot of walnuts. But, the outer husk is tough to open. And it’s round. Pardon the comment, but they’re a hard nut to crack. And then you only get this nickel sized tidbit.

Another paraphrase, the walnut tree is the walnuts way of making more walnuts.

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