Acorns!

In our little corner of the world, this is the time of year for acorns.

Living in a town called Oakville should provide a clue as to what trees tend to dominate here (well at least in the older park areas) and so acorns are everywhere. Ray’s interest in them was noted in one of the early Posts* but it never ceases to amaze us how little he seems to recall from one year to the next.

Back in 2013, he behaved as if he had just discovered them. In 2014, he was so excited when he found acorns all over the ground that he must have thought that he had just discovered them. A few days ago, Ray clearly just discovered acorns! He really is a joy to watch when he picks up the scent of acorns. His tail goes up; his head goes down, and his leash goes tight. Ray is on a mission!

The other day, we were out walking and he homed-in on one nice shiny green one and pushed it around with his nose. Whatever messages he was getting from that clearly did not inspire him so he hunted down another shiny green one. He even licked that one, but clearly it was not too his taste. The next green one was obviously equally unimpressive.

He then looked around and found another acorn harvest. “Oh look ……….. he’s found a nice shiny green one” (which clearly did not tempt him). He then found a nice brown one and took it in his mouth, only to promptly spit it out.

We could not envisage how any part of an acorn could be remotely palatable**, but Ray kept trying. Perhaps he was so taken by their appearance that he could only rationalize that they must be tasty? “Oh look! He’s found another really fresh looking brown one” (which he promptly spat out). The brown ones were certainly very attractive when freshly fallen as they displayed such warmth from the rich brown coloring.

“It looks like we’re off on another mission!” Within a few minutes we were in the middle of more acorns. “Look! He‘s checking out one with a mix of green and brown coloring.” He inspected it but, whatever he was looking for, it did not have it.

Perhaps he has a terrible memory, but I am more inclined to believe that it is his opportunistic side coming out. “That first green one tasted bad, but perhaps the next green one will be yummy?” “Those browns don’t taste anywhere near as good as they look, but what about that green and brown one over there?” “Oh look ………… another green one. I‘d better check it out just in case!”

What a great attitude! Now how do we get people (the higher intellect) to be as positive?

*See Post “Ray discovers acorns” – Oct 26, 2014

**But squirrels love them. Perhaps that is the basis for Ray’s interest?

24 thoughts on “Acorns!”

  1. I would say that Ray and you can be so similar, as far as the positive and keep trying attitude goes!
    But I wouldn’t advise you to go around sniffing and licking acorns, leave that job to Ray. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    • Life is always a matter of choices. We can chose to do something, or choose not to. We can choose between options, or choose to do nothing. Given circumstances beyond our control, we can choose how to react to them. We can choose to look for the positives in a given situation, or we can choose to look for the negatives. Once we accept that our life is simply a matter of our choices (regardless of circumstances), then we take responsibility for our choices. Once we take responsibility for our choices, we acknowledge control over our life, and if we have control over our life, we should be very happy. Sadly, so many people blame everybody else for their own circumstances, so never take responsibility for their own actions. They are generally not very happy people.

      Like

  3. Seems several readers have mentioned squirrels and perhaps that’s what Ray is picking up on. I don’t want to spoil Ray’s fun, but I hope he doesn’t eat them as they can be toxic and cause stomach discomfort, vomiting and diarrhea (lots of info on the ‘net).

    Liked by 1 person

    • Hi Nena – I agree. We can get so tangled in complexities, and can learn so much from a dog’s simple perspectives, but are we prepared to learn? Sadly, a lot of people aren’t. A dog is an example of happiness based upon having its basic needs met. So many people see themselves in the context of material wealth. Very sad! 🙂
      Welcome to our Blog. Feel free to wander around when you have some time as it has been just over 2-1/2 years since Ray moved in with us, and he has been an education in so many ways. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  8. Hah! The dog and children are behaving that way. Our Ambos, who is a Black Lab, are very much alive when we go to the woods. I may have an open wide garden facing the mountains, it is simply so different when one are in the woods and discovering some things.

    Our Ambos is just as excited as the children when I unleashed them into the woods. I bet they must have frightened the wood folks! LOL 😛

    Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.