Aw NUTS!

Walnuts that is; black walnuts to be exact.

A typical black walnut

As you can see, the nuts grow pretty big. The Eastern Black Walnut is native to Eastern North American riparian woodlands, but they are especially plentiful in the Midwest. The trees mature, and bear significant fruit at around 20 years of age. They may live for 130 years and reach heights of 100 to 130 feet. During the Civil War, gun makers found that the heartwood made high quality and long lasting gunstocks. That, and its value as a source of wood for furniture, flooring, paddles, cabinets, caskets and veneer, led to a decline in the numbers of Eastern Black Walnut trees in many parts of their natural range. Poaching of black walnut trees became common and continues even today. This decline got so severe that by the approach of World War II, the federal government began encouraging people to sell the black walnut trees growing in their yards and orchards. Today, thanks in part to open land conservation, selective harvest logging, and synthetic and engineered wood products, the Eastern Black Walnut Tree is back with a vengeance.

It's a mixed blessing...

You can't even imagine what it's like to be in an RV when a nut, like the one pictured, falls 130 feet from a treetop and lands on the roof. The sound is like a cherry-bomb going off. We live in a 37 foot long, 18,000 pound motorhome which is currently stabilized by four hydraulic jacks. A nut hit the roof so hard today the the coach actually moved. It was like someone shoved a corner a hard as they could.

Chipmunks LOVE these nuts. We have enough chipmunks to start a band. They stash the nuts everywhere: up trees, in holes, in hollows, in the exhaust of the HOW...

Did I mention the exhaust of the HOW? That reminds me of late last summer, sitting outside of the House On Wheels, when Penny thought she heard a metallic scratching sound coming from the tail pipe. She tapped the pipe and sure enough, the noise got louder and kind of frantic. Me, being ever the animal lover that I am, went in and started the engine and hit the gas. A couple of walnuts shot out followed by a panicked chipmunk. The rodent landed on its belly with all four legs splayed out, got up, looked one way, the the other and took off. After a few more guns of the engine, we had ejected 27 nuts, and one unhappy chipmunk. There's more to the story but it can wait until another day.

On a personal note, I've been cleared to travel and resume a normal lifestyle pending one or two more minor procedures. Not bad for almost gettin' dead three weeks ago. God is good, all the time!

Osprey

Recalculating Route

Isn't that what your GPS says when you turn unexpectedly from the predetermined route? Well we've been sent in an unexpected direction, and now we're recalculating our route. Last Thursday, I (Paul) went through a life-threatining medical crisis that landed me in hospital for three days. Not good.

Depending on the outcome of some followup tests, we may have to rethink how we're going to continue to live a full-time RV life. We may have to stay close to places with Trauma Centers. We may have to travel via interstates instead of smaller roads. We may even end up with two "home bases" and simply travel back and forth with the weather. Right now we don't know, but we fully intend to pursue our dream of living in a small house with a really big yard. 

In the meantime, while I heal and see doctors, we'll be recalculating our route, and see where it leads.