Burning acorns

In addition to Kastanien, this is also the season for Maronen--edible chestnuts, as in "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" (or as Elias calls it, "the burning acorns song"*). They are falling in vast quantities on the trails leading from Herdern up to the Schlossberg. I interrupted a trot into the hills today to fill up my jacket pockets with a good kilo of nuts. Maronen are surrounded by needle sharp spiky husks that are best pulled apart by shoed feet or gloved hands. Tomorrow we'll cut slits into the shells and roast the nuts in the oven.

*The other day, Elias explained his talent for singing well-known songs: "I sing them, but I change the tunes and use new words."

Kastanien

Interesting things fall out of the sky in Freiburg. When we first arrived, it was Lindenbaum seeds, twirling down like little dancing fairies.

Two months later, horse chestnuts are tumbling out of trees in vast quantities, and pint-sized Kastanien hunters are out in full force. On Friday, Elias's teacher told her 24 students to start collecting nuts: they would use them to count to and appreciate the number 1000. By Monday, Elias had found 19 on a casual walk to the park. A more dedicated classmate had found 700. Together, the class collected over 3000.

Horse chestnuts are bitter and slightly toxic. When they fall, they burst out of their spiky husks with an explosive pop. Pretty, shiny, and smooth, they beg to be picked up, like pebbles on a beach. Crowded together in a bucket or makeshift basket (folding up the hem of your T-shirt works just fine), they slide and knock against one another with a pleasing clunk. They're useful for arranging and rearranging according to size and shape, for counting and recounting, for evaluating according to ever-changing point-assignment systems, for rolling, tossing, and juggling, and for poking toothpicks into to build toy animals.