Story: Pinecone Collection

“Mmmm…mmm! The scent of pine in the morning,” Pip, the deer mouse, stretches and yawns.

“It is a sweet scent, isn’t it?” Mia, the blue jay, calls down from her roost to Pip’s hollow in the big cypress tree.

“Come look at this, Mia?” Pip asks, “Do you remember the pinecone I found yesterday?”

Hopping down to the hollow, Mia peeks inside, “Yes. I remember.”

“Look at how perfect it is. See the spirals?” Pip holds it up to Mia.

“It is beautiful, Pip.” Mia gazes at the little pinecone in Pip’s paws.

“We should hunt for more pinecones today. How many different kinds do you think are in the Watercolor Woods?” Pip urges Mia to go with her.

Mia tilts her head, “A pinecone hunt? Sure. Let’s go.”

Pip grins at Mia and takes off running, “I can find one first!”

Mia easily flies ahead of Pip, “Look at that one! It’s longer than the one you found yesterday, Pip. The scales point outward, like a flower.”

Pip catches up to Mia, and observes the pinecone, “You’re right.”

Mia hops ahead, “Let’s find more.”

“Here’s a bunch of them, Mia,” Pip points to a pile of acorns sitting in pine needles on the woodland floor. Each one we find is different and has its own characteristics.

“Some are small, and some are big. Many are short and fat, while others are long and thin,” Mia realizes, looking at the pile.

“Let’s look for more,” Pip suggests.

“I can fly over the trees and spot pinecones in them,” Mia says, taking flight.

“Perfect!” Pip likes the sound of that.

“This one is still green,” Mia calls down to Pip and drops the cone for her to see.

“It hasn’t opened yet,” Pip observes. “The scales are tightly closed.”

Mia marvels at their collection, “I never realized how many shapes and sizes of pinecones are here in the woods.

“I can’t quite reach this one, Mia. Thorns on that bush are in the way,” Pip grunts.

“Here, I can get it,” Mia snaps off the thorns with her beak and picks out the little cone. “Look. There is one down between the tree roots that I can’t reach.”

Pip reaches her tiny paw down between the roots, “Got it! Let’s look in that hollow log over there.”

At that moment, leaves rustle behind the log. “Did you hear that?” Pip whispers and glances at Mia.

Mia tilts her head and listens, “Over there!”

Pip tiptoes over to a fern and crawls under to see what is there, “Oh! Jasper! You scared us!”

Jasper, the opossum, buries his nose in some dried leaves, “Me? I’m just foraging.”

“Jasper!” Mia chuckles.

“What are you two up to?” Jasper trots over to them.

“We’re hunting for pinecones,” Pip explains. “Do you want to join us?”

Jasper’s eyes light up, “Yes, I do. It sounds like fun.”

“Jasper, you are good at digging. Start with that big pile of leaves over there,” Mia points with her wing.

Digging in the leaves, Jasper struggles, “Look at the size of this one! I can hardly lift it.”

Pip laughs, “It’s bigger than me.”

Mia lands on the ground near Pip with a cluster of tiny pinecones attached to a twig, “These are small, but look how beautiful they are.”

Pip examines their collection, “Some are open, and others are tightly closed. These are sticky, but most are dry.”

Mia smiles, “I think we have found the most beautiful pinecones in the Watercolor Woods.”

Jasper nods, “This was fun! We should go on hunts more often.”

Mia thinks out loud, “Let’s make something special with them.”

Pip looks confused, “Like what?”

“Well,” Mia grins. “Remember how we helped Rosemary repair her burrow? Wouldn’t these decorate the entrance nicely?”

Jasper looks up from his forest finds, “Yes! That’s a great idea!”

“Rosemary, the rabbit, will love it!” Pip adds. “Let’s take our collection of pinecones to the meadow.”

“Rosemary!” Mia calls out. “There she is in the clover patch.”

“Look what we found!” Pip shows her the collection of pinecones.

“We would like to decorate your burrow entrance with them,” Jasper grins.

Rosemary’s face lights up, “Oh! That is a wonderful idea! Thank you!”

Placing pinecones along the path to Rosemary’s burrow, Mia points out, “We have collected a lot of them today.”

“Here’s a few smaller cones for the doorway,” Pip places them carefully.

“It’s beautiful! Thank you for thinking of me,” Rosemary admires the decorations.

As the sun sets, Pip, Mia, and Jasper say their goodbyes and head home, talking about the day’s adventure in the Watercolor Woods.