Sign of the Times II

Anyone seen any acorns lately? Check here for a somewhat bizarre article. I have certainly seen oak leaves but not so many acorns this year. Our round-bally tree continues to produce but with somewhat strange droppings this year (unusual color, smaller size). I remember last year there were plenty of acorns to collect, and two years ago, humongous ones, almost golf-ball sized, that were of tremendous interest to the older boy. The squirrels here look plenty well-fed but that could be from our pumpkins and defeated attempts at composting.

This is the stuff of creepy sci-fi stories of my adolescence (or, I suppose, M. Night Shayamalan's latest movie): the trees all decide to shut down at once at wait for better times. Or something. I just know if the squirrels get any more aggressive, the dog will have a nervous breakdown. And it would explain the very unusual pillaging of our plastic/glass recycling by the squirrels. A peanut butter jar was in the tree outside our front window for two days after recycling was collected, and then, once chewed to a pulp, was discarded on our front lawn. When even the squirrels feel like they can trash my yard, the neighborhood is really going downhill. Next thing you know, they'll be ringing our doorbell and running away laughing. I'd better keep them away from my toilet paper.