The Spoons take it by (snow)storm!

 Last fall, I decided to test the "Old Wives' Tale" of weather forecasting by persimmon seeds.  Theory has it that a piece of cutlery can be found inside a sliced seed and that piece can predict the severity of the coming winter.  I dutifully sliced open seven persimmon seeds.  The inside of one was black.  Obviously, the seed was rotten so that one was discarded.  In the remaining six, one contained the image of a knife and five had spoons.  Hmmm.  According to legend, we were bound for a snowy, wet winter.  A knife represents stabbing cold, a spoon stands for snow while a fork means a mild winter.  Those spoons and that one knife did not bode well for the Bayou.  I was curious just how well the seeds' prediction would hold.  It did.  Actually, for the first time in years, we had snow...errr...ice.  Lots of crunchy ice blanketed the Coast not once but twice with lots of sleet and snow flurries dotted around the rest of the winter.  Yep, that is about as much snow as we receive this far down in the Deep South.  I was happy that the seeds did so well with their forecasting as now, perhaps, I could determine just how much firewood we would need to gather. 

  Once again, it is persimmon time on the Bayou.  I have a number of the wild trees dotting the hillside that provide me with plenty of leaves for tea, gobs of the marble-sized fruit for jam  AND loads of the large seeds for weather forecasting!  I decided today was the day to test a few more seeds.  Elizabeth and I sat at the table while I snipped the edges of a seed with the scissors.  This makes it easier to slice.  (Wild persimmon seeds are really hard!)  Once I succeeded in slicing the seed, she announced "Spoon!"  Well, alrighty then!  Spoon = snow.  I sliced the second seed.  "Spoon!" she said once again.  Hmmm..snow. Then came time for the third seed.  You guessed it, once again, she proclaimed "Spoon!"  All three seeds had spoons.  I sliced four more seeds and nothing varied.  All seven seeds contained spoons.  No forks nor knives ever even tried to show up in the seeds!  Spoons!  Seven spoons.  Oh, my!

  Well, once again, it is a matter of wait and see.  Will we have another icy, snowy winter ahead of us this year?  Who knows?  Still, to be on the safe side, Michael and I will start cutting firewood in the coming weeks.  Being prepared for the worst case scenario is always the best idea.  Fire up the chainsaw!  Where is the axe?  I am ready!