Fall memories

I notice that there is not much fog to speak of in September. But I do have fond memories of fall in New England.

Back when I was 5, my mom and I moved to the top floor of a 3-story Victorian in New England at the beginning of September. There was a single, small window in my living room. From my perch on the ottoman, I could look out and see the top of a big oak tree, with the leaves turning yellow and brown.

For several days I watched as the squirrels ran back and forth across the branches of the large tree, packing brown things in their mouths. I don't see too well, but as far as I could tell, they were packing acorns. After a few days of going downstairs to "go outside," I noticed acorns on the ground. I wondered whether these were the same objects that the squirrels were packing, and if so, what was the big deal.

I thought about it, and decided that the only way to find out was to pack some myself. On my evening excursion to "go outside," I sniffed about, stuffing acorns in my mouth as I found them. I continued stuffing acorns in my mouth until I couldn't possibly fit another. My mouth was so full that it wouldn't even close completely. I was excited to get these upstairs to explore them further!

When it was time to go back upstairs for dinner, I started up the first of three flights of stairs. I realized that I wouldn't be able to exert the energy to climb the stairs, while holding all of my prized acorns in my mouth. I waited at the bottom of the stairs -- I knew that if I showed my mom that I couldn't make it up the stairs, she would help me. She didn't understand what was wrong with me, and worried that I had hurt my back. She picked me up tenderly, and carried me all the way to the third floor. Whew! I made it to the top without dropping a single acorn.

At long last I was close to my ottoman perch, ready to discover the goodness within the acorns that drove the squirrels to run around so busily. I jumped up onto the ottoman, and emptied my acorns. There must have been 15 or 20. This was going to be good!

I bit open an acorn to find a nut inside. This was looking good! I tasted the nut, only to find that it didn't seem like it was a good one. I must have picked out the dud nut first. I cracked open a couple other acorns to taste them, and experienced the same foul taste. I jumped off the ottoman, and chowed down on some real food in my dog bowl. It's the same thing every day, but it's dependable (and edible).

Stupid squirrels! Either they have really bad taste, or it was a total conspiracy to get me to look silly. I'm not sure which. I do know one thing -- I'd like to taste one of those squirrels and find out whether they're tasty or taste like those foul acorns.

Ahhhhh, September.