Everywhere I look

Remember the early days of this humble blog when I anguished about the lack of walnut trees in my woods at Roundrock? There was a point where any time I happened upon a walnut tree, it gave it a post of its own, keeping a count. I even tried plotting their location on a map once.

Okay, I’m older now, and I don’t have to be so stupid. It seems like just about everywhere I look though, I see the distinctive leaves of a walnut tree over my head. (Well, not really everywhere.) When Seth and I were stumbling about the north-facing slope on our last visit, tracking the interloping cattle, I happened to look up and see this walnut tree you see above. It obviously has been growing there for years, far longer than my tenure at Roundrock, yet this was the first time I had seen it.

So let’s say that my powers of observation are set pretty low. And let’s say that I probably have three times as a number of walnut trees in my woods as I have seen. That means I have a pretty good population of walnuts in the 80+ acres of Roundrock. I can say that I’ve seen them in nearly every part of my woods, so I think it is safe to say they are throughout.

What I haven’t seen is an actual walnut. I’m not sure why that is. Are my walnut trees not fertile? That doesn’t seem likely. They got here on their own, so it is probably that they are as vigorous and complete as any walnut tree anywhere. Are the squirrels getting all of the nuts before I can even glimpse them? Perhaps, but while we have seen squirrels in our woods, we haven’t see a lot of them. Surely one or two nuts have escape their notice long enuf for me to notice them. Or are my powers of observation set on low? Are there walnuts in the trees and I’m just not seeing them? Let’s say that.

Missouri calendar:

• Smoketrees bloom on southwestern Missouri glades.

Today in Missouri history:

• Rose O''Neill was born on this date in 1874. From her home near Springfield, Missouri she created Kewpie dolls in illustrations and figurines. In the Roaring Twenties these sweet elvish creatures became an international craze.

Posted by: Roundrockjournal    Source