A Nutty Day

Just for the heck of it, we went to Havana, Florida's annual lawnmower and golf cart Christmas parade this morning. We got there just as the parade was beginning and it was a good thing we were not a minute or two later, or we might have missed the whole thing.

Still, we were glad we went. It was fun and we can say we did.

B's brother had invited us to come to his house and pick up pecans. We called to see if it was a convenient time, and I guess it must have been, since they were not home. We picked up a five-gallon bucket full. I think this one is a monster!

This has been an incredible year for nuts! Acorns and pecans are around by the millions.

On our return, we stopped at a usually wet spot in the woods, which is now bone dry from our lack of rain. One of our favorite trees grows there: the swamp chestnut oak, Quercus michauxii. These trees grow enormous acorns and since it is a year of plenty of acorns, we wanted to explore the likelihood of collecting some to take to school for my kindergartners. There were LOTS on the ground. We collected a bucketful, along with a leaf or two. We were a little surprised that we did not see deer or turkey feasting nearby.

We had one more harvest to collect: tomatoes. I had heard that there were wonderful tomatoes to be picked at a farm in south Georgia. We found it on Lake Douglas Road. We were told by a woman coming in with us that the price was for a 5 gallon bucket. So we picked that amount, selecting varying stages of maturity.

The collection system was by an honor box, a makeshift affair that previously had been a toolbox.

So for five bucks, some gas and a little fun, we got a five gallon bucket of tomatoes, that weighed in at 30 pounds at home. S. had a party to go to tonight and took a plate of the sliced tomatoes. Everyone was raving about them and they quickly disappeared.

And believe me, there are PLENTY left at home.

Near where we picked the tomatoes was this delighful dirt road.

It is a canopy road where the tree branches meet overhead.

B had just said, jokingly, "I'm lost," when we saw another lost soul. Someone was driving an SUV, pulling a sizable boat on a trailer....through a cotton field. It was a really funny sight. (Did not get the camera ready in time.)