When a Chestnut Becomes A Conker

No story of life in England, as a mother, as a fall Weather lover, would be complete without a story about Conkers. Our daughter and son will know exactly what I am talking about, and maybe you do too. I think the chances are, however, that you may not.

Our children attended a British school for two years. We arrived in England in the fall, little knowing that a phenomena which takes England school children by storm each autumn would soon captivate us.

Our children came home from school, chattering away about Conkers and Conker fights. I wondered if it might be some strange new alien drug usage. But I was to discover that Conkers were a commodity, greatly coveted by school children everywhere in this gentle land. My children patiently explained that a Conker is a horse chestnut with a hole drilled through it, and a string (with a knot at one end) threaded through the hole. With this Conker, a game of Conkers takes place. Following is an explanation, with info on how to read more:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24018267@N00/10252518786/

The game conkers is played by two people, each equipped with a conker threaded onto the end of a piece of string. Players take turns at whacking their opponent's conker with their own conker, with the aim of smashing their opponent's conker to pieces. The winner is the player whose conker is still attached to the string. 

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1207370/Conker-season-arrives-early-mild-spring-wet-summer-provide-perfect-horse-chestnut-conditions.html#ixzz2jp3dPVtq 
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Any two boys having a Conker fight clearly enjoy themselves. And gradually, as I watched our children in a relentless search for chestnuts, I joined gleefully in this relentless search.

Each day on our way to school, the children and I walked with heads down, searching eagerly for any Conker we could find. We were unusually protective of our finds. If a small school boy happened to see a Conker we were approaching, and if that small boy tried to reach it first, the scene was not pretty.

And so, as I recently strode along Addison's Walk at Magdalen College, imagine my delight upon seeing loads of horse chestnuts along the path! Soon my pockets were bulging with large, shiny, sweetly brown Conkers.

Now, to find the string...

See you along the way!

the SconeLady

photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/24018267@N00/10252518786/">Mark Seton</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/">cc</a>