April blog 1

The Great Acorn Hunt

At the start of every spring The Bushytail Squirrel family organize the Great Acorn Hunt. They hide colorful acorns all over Honeysuckle Hollow for the community to find. The whole family gets in on the action! They paint the tops of the acorns themselves with small brushes made of sticks from the forest and small clippings of their fur. Each acorn is painted a different color. They have created a special point system – some colors that are rarer are worth more points and hidden in more challenging spots to find. They are looking forward to this year’s hunt and it is calling for clear skies! Perfect hunting weather.

“Today’s the day!” Henry announced the morning of the acorn hunt. He was wearing a pair of binoculars to see far and wide clearly and spy that exact moment an acorn was located.

“I have split up the families this year! It will be surprise teams!” Dad Oliver explained. It was typically done per household so this would be a major surprise.

The Bushytails all agree this was a great idea and would add a twist to the festivities.

The whole community met up in the center of the town where the hunt always began. Everyone was there, the Wagadoodles, the Tidyshine Turtles, the Curlycuddle Sheep and the FitzMoo Cows. Each was dressed in comfortable clothes suited for sport and had a small satchel to collect acorns.

“Welcome everyone!” called out Maggie Bushytail before continuing, “Today marks the annual great acorn hunt! This year, we have a few tricks up our sleeves. First thing first, we are going to call out your teams!”

A gasp could be heard in the crowd. Everyone had assumed they would hunt with their family members. Some had even made strategies for finding the acorns faster.

“I know this is a change of plans” laughed Oliver Bushytail, “but we knew it would mix things up and give you a chance to get to know your neighbors in some friendly competition!”

Henry and Honeybun called out names and handed out small stripes of material in different colors to each of the teams. A red team, a blue team, green team and so on. Once everyone was on their team. It was time for the rules.

“Alright teams! Look around! This year we have hidden 40 acorns throughout Honeysuckle Hollow – high and low – you must use your skills of imagination and observation to find them. There are 6 distinct colors: red, orange, yellow, pink, blue and green,” said Maggie.

“Please remember, to be careful in your hunt. It is not about speed but working as a team! Good luck everyone!” said Oliver as he blew out on a whistle to mark the beginning of the hunt.

All the teams broke off from the main group. Some ran toward to the forest, others toward the park, while a few groups chatted with each other to make a game plan. The hours passed and if you were in an airplane high above Honeysuckle Hollow – you would truly wonder what was going on! As you would see all the neighbors running to and frow. There would be Fitzmoos in trees and Daintypaws in ponds (and cats generally do not like ponds!) but in the name of the Great Acorn Hunt – the HH community goes out of its comfort zone.

As the sun started to go down, the families started to make their way back to the starting place. They heard the sound of Oliver Bushytail’s whistle blow three times – which was the sign the time was ending for the game. Their satchels weighed down with acorns, it seemed everyone had good luck! The groups huddled in a circle and one by one turned their bags over to empty the acorns out on the grass. Counting out the number of each color to tally their points.

A small, muffled cheer that grew louder rose as one team realized they were the winning group.

“Quiet, quiet” said Maggie, “Let us keep order until there is a full count.

“We have a winner – team GREEN!” shouted Henry and Honeybun Bushytail.

The winners Quinn McBristly, True McHoot, Milo O’Funnigan and Annie Tailfeather, took a bow as everyone cheered!

“Speech! Speech! Speech!” cheered the Honeysuckle Hollow crowd.

“Well! We think this year was extra special! When we were a team – we realized quickly that everyone has unique strengths. Annie flew to the top views and Milo is great at climbing. True has wonderful eyesight at a distance and I took to the ground,” said Quinn.

“Three cheers for teamwork – hip, hip hooray!” The crowd cheered loudly in agreement.

Tune in next week!