A fine Autumn day.

Those wonderful days of Autumn are dwindling. The days of warm sunshine and colorful foliage are almost at an end. Jeanette and I took advantage of one such day this week to do something outdoors we both enjoy. That is to walk a woods road and just take in all that the season has to offer. We found numerous flowers that have gone to seed. Their silvery color, like icicles when hit by the sun. Milk weed pods were almost everywhere, and as we walked by an apple tree the bees were busy enjoying the flavor of a tart Mac.

A natural Autumn centerpiece. Red thornberries growing up alongside an old rock wall. The field behind it was full of milk weed and as we walked through it to the brook I felt confident the flush of a woodcock was going to happen.

Soon we came upon a prize in the Autumn woods. It was a stand of hickory trees. These strong fellows had dropped their bounty all over the ground. We had brought along a canvas bag for such a find, and we soon began to fill it up.

Wild hickory nuts are probably the sweetest nuts one can eat. They can be a bit of a problem when trying to extract the meat.

The shells are extremely hard, and if not cracked a certain way they almost impossible to salvage any meat.

I do have a method of getting the meat, and with a good amount of it Jeanette took some oatmeal and chocolate chips, along with a lot of hickory nuts and made some cookies. A fresh hot cup of Nantucket coffee and a few cookies were a treat on this fine October day.