When I was little I'd stay at my grandmother's house in the country and wander through the woods, well, through bits of wood anyway, and come home with bags full of acorns. There are things you could do with them on rainy afternoons. You've probably done them too: stick cocktailpicks in them and make little men with hats on, or deer with funny antlers. I don't find many   acorns where I live now, because hey, it's a city, and it's mostly elm, birch and poplar here, in little stamp-sized parks. No oak to speak of. But it's always a pleasure to come across an acorn or two, especially if they’re still wearing their little berets. Unfortunately, the Dutch word for acorn, 'eikel', also means, literally, 'dickhead'. They do look like that, of course. Even more unfortunate, though not wholly inappropriate, is that 'eikel' sounds about the same as 'ickle'. I’m sure that's just a coincidence. KK

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