Acorn Season in Crofton, Watch Out Below!

I just love the mature oak trees found throughout my Crofton, Maryland neighborhood.  In fact one of the things that sold me on our home a few years back was the view up through a glass roofed sunroom to the waving branches of the oaks against the blue sky.  Those beautiful tall trees I fell in love with hid another less desirable side which wasn’t revealed to me until shortly after we moved into our home in the fall of 2007.  That less wonderful side can be summed up in one word, ACORNS. 

Of course I knew that acorns came from oak trees but until I moved into my current home I never realized how many acorns an oak tree can produce in a single season.  Each October the trees seem to decide in unison that it is time to start the great acorn drop.  Acorns, I have discovered can fall with tremendous force; they can dent vehicles, they clutter sidewalks with thousands of little tripping hazards and they can make our leaf raking more of a challenge than it already is.  With each autumn breeze comes a barrage of pellets shooting down from above.  Shhhhooooo, boom, crack! The sound of acorns pelting a roof can be quite alarming to the uninitiated.  I’ve watched guests to our home literally jump in their seats surprised at the sound of a single acorn hitting the sunroom at the back of our house. 

And watch out below to all who venture outdoors on windy days during this time of year.  I have been whacked on the shoulder by these falling seeds and I can tell you from experience that when they hit their mark they hurt.  My family and I have learned to be a little more aware during this season as we leave the house.  Avoiding the barrage of acorns has become second nature.  Bike helmets do double duty for the kids as they ride up and back on the sidewalk in front of our home.  They say to everything there is a season and fortunately this one is usually only a few weeks long.





  As I write this in early November the acorns have finally finished falling.  My husband has raked up the ones the squirrels left behind and set them out by the curb.  We can now walk outside without constantly looking up after each breeze.  The sound of pelting acorns has been replaced by the less jarring buzz of leaf blowers and the scrape-scrape of rakes.  On to the task of cleaning up the colorful autumn leaves.  I am almost back to loving Crofton’s beautiful tall trees.