An old neighbor used to say that when there are "a plenty" of Hickory Nuts "a fallin'" then it's bound to be a cold winter. If that's true, I'm buying some more long-johns.
Each day when we walk, we have to tiptoe by the old barn because walking over the Hickory nuts is hazardous. It's been a while since we've had this many.
When I was a kid, my grandmother used to pay me in candy to crack hickory nuts for her. She wanted enough of the "goodie" (the edible stuff inside the nut) to back a cake. I thought I was taking advantage of her because there was nothing I enjoyed more than beating the crap out of things with a hammer.
I soon learned that hickory nuts have mother nature's version of titanium. I beat the hide off of both my thumbs and most of my fingers. I finally got enough for a cake, but I thought she should have given me the entire box of candy.
