Winter Walk: Blizzard of Sycamore Fluff

This afternoon Norm and I decided to stretch our flabby legs and walk around the neighbor- hood. It was a cloudy slightly foggy day, cool with a light wind, but after our snow and bitter cold, it was still a good day to get out. We had just started up the street when we realized it was snowing sycamore seeds from the giant tree across the street. For four or five lots scattered up and down the street in both directions, the golden fluff was piling up in drifts, covering car hoods and trunks, and floating past our noses.

This is a normal phenom- enon since sycamores flower in May and have their fruits ripe by October. They stay on the tree, small bronze balls, until late winter or early spring. I could get excited and think maybe this is the first sign of spring! We have noticed these fluff drifts before, but they seem heavier this year. I also don't think I've ever been out in a sycamore storm before! One source I checked said sycamore seeds were eaten by the now extinct Carolina parakeet. Another source said that purple finches like them. We usually have a lot of purple finches at our feeders, but they have been scarce this year.

We had a lovely walk and saw lots of starlings feeding on a zoysia lawn, hopefully they were ridding it of some kind of pest. We also saw a mocking bird claiming its high post on someone's chimney. And we saw one of the wild cats that roam the neighborhood and keep adding to the feral kitten population. It felt good to exercise and none too soon, since our Water Exercise Class starts again tomorrow after a month-long winter break. We expect soreness the rest of the week.


As we arrived home I was bemused by how the flat top of our new wall out front seems to have become a banquet table for the squirrels. They have been busy digging acorns (from our big oak tree) out of the nooks and crannies of the lawn and flower beds. The entire length of the wall is littered with the results of their snacking. The other day, Norm was startled to confront a squirrel that had attached itself to our back storm door and was staring inside. All we can figure is that he or she was thinking that the wreath of red berries on the back door was edible. Sorry guys, I'm afraid not. There is at least one acorn they won't get, either. A little oak tree is coming up in the same pot that holds the spider plant upstairs. Some squirrel probably hid the acorn there last fall before I brought the plants inside.