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ILLINOIS

YOUR GUIDE TO ARTS & LEISURE IN NORTHERN ILLINOIS

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2020 • ShawLocal.com

RAISE A GLASS

Fall-inspired drinks that go beyond pumpkin lattes / 4

GOOD NATURED

Black walnut husks leave squirrel grins / 7

MAIZE RUNNER Find your way to a fun and challenging corn maze / 5

UNCORKED

SHAW MEDIA

An expert taster shares favorite finds to consider adding to your own wine racks.

Shaw Media / ShawLocal.com • Saturday, October 17, 2020

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By JAMES NOKES

Savor newfound nuance of Edna Valley pinot

F

red Delivert will break the stigma.

The affable, Frenchborn winemaker at Tolosa has made a sublime pinot noir, loaded with flavor, elegance and highlighting everything that is special in the varietal in Edna Valley.

Attention isn’t easy to come by for wineries in California’s Central Coast. Wedged between Napa Valley, which rose to prominence after the Judgment of Paris wine competition in 1976 and a subsequent influx of Silicon Valley money, and Santa Barbara, whose pinot noir was the star of the Academy Award-winning movie “Sideways,” in birth order, Edna Valley is the youngest-born child.

Yet, it can be done. Paso Robles rose from the white noise of the Central Coast conversation to be a premier wine-growing destination with its Rhone Rangers and world-class wines. Edna Valley has the potential to be next.

Delivert has delivered Tolosa

1772 Edna Valley Pinot Noir 2017 ($70) with a velvety soft texture

and rich plum, raspberry, earth, spice rack and leather flavors.

In the glass, its color is light.

But the tension between acidity, fruit, spice and earth flavors is refreshing and lithe.

“There’s people that still see Central Coast on a label and rows and rows of chardonnay that sell for $9.99 per bottle at (a grocery store),” Delivert said. “That’s something we have to go against.

Edna Valley is not really known.

We are lacking recognition from the larger public. It’s a bummer, but we have to put the word out that we make great wines.”

For 20 years, Delivert made wines in Napa and Sonoma Valley and saw the industry trend towards hedonistic wines with big, bold flavors and high-alcohol content. Wine critics awarded high scores to these wines, and the chase to make bigger and bolder wines was on.

Now in his third growing season at Tolosa, he is tasked with capturing the nuance offered by Edna Valley pinot noir.

“Winemakers thought big wines get big scores” Delivert said. “So, let’s make them so they can sell. The current of thinking

went more in that direction, and the market responded. But winemakers remembered there’s something else to what we are making. Maybe they can bring more elegance and freshness. The DNA of Edna is not that and has never been that. I made pinot in Napa and Sonoma, too, and I saw potential here (in Edna). Pinot noir doesn’t have to be inked up; 15% alcohol is not what pinot is.”

Located in a transverse valley perpendicular to the coastline, Edna Valley has a direct opening to the Pacific Ocean and thus a “huge marine influence.” Temperatures are mild all year, and the vines have a short dormancy period. With an early bud break, Edna Valley vineyards have a long hang time. California sunshine’s influence is moderated by cool summer days, and the grapes retain acidity well.

Winemakers also have what Delivert said is “a mosaic of soils.” There’s a ridge on the east edge of the Santa Lucia Highlands that is volcanic, an ancient seabed and sand and limestone among the 60 different soil types whose wide variety is a “patchwork that brings more complexity” to the wine.

Tolosa owner Robin Bagett started planting vineyards in 1988 and founded the winery in 1998.

He founded Alpha Omega in Napa in 2006, and it’s grown into a solid producer of Bordeaux varieties.

With 720 acres at the Edna Ranch and a winery with everything Delivert needs, Tolosa’s Edna Valley pinot noir is ready to stand with wines it makes from California’s other AVAs. “I want to be true to varietal,” Delivert said. “I brought that philosophy here. It’s the perfect spot to make wine that I want to make. The nature of the grape lacks pigment. You will see light through it. Pinot noir is not a big wine, but it has to be elegant and it can be powerful. So, let’s capture that acidity and get power from layers of flavors; there’s a long length to that. It’s a blast to make those wines.”

• James Nokes has been tasting, touring and collecting in the wine world for several years.

Email him at jamesnokes25@ yahoo.com.

Photo provided

A marine layer influences the Edna Valley in California, south of the city of San Luis Obispo and part of the larger Central Coast AVA.

~ Tasting Notes ~ Sourcing California pinot noir Anderson Valley AVA – Isolated and surrounded by redwoods, the sleepy hamlet two hours north of Napa makes a “subtle, elegant and terroir-driven type of wines,” according to Domaine Anderson winemaker Darrin Low. Check out bottlings from Domaine Anderson, Fel and Maggy Hawk.

Carneros AVA – It starts in Napa, spills into Sonoma and has a cooler climate because it is closer to the frigid waters of San Pablo Bay. Artessa, Bouchaine, Cuvaison and Donum are standout producers.

Edna Valley AVA – “We can’t do big jammy pinot noir,” said Delivert about the pinot that is lighter in color and loaded with fresh acidity.

Petaluma Gap AVA – Designated an AVA in 2017, its fog-covered terrain comes from cold air off the Pacific Ocean that enters through an opening in the coastal mountain range and travels east to San Pablo Bay. Adobe Road and Anaba make great pinot; the Sangiacomo Family Vineyards are stellar.

Russian River Valley AVA – The raspberry and spice flavors stand out to Delivert.

A plush mouthfeel has been a calling card I’ve noticed as well. Tolosa makes an RRV pinot. Flowers, Freeman, Gary Farrell, Inman

Family, La Crema, Landmark and Windracer are just a few of many bottlings out there.

Santa Lucia Highlands AVA – An incredibly long growing season due to abundant sunshine, fog, vineyards planted at elevated heights and roaring winds from the nearby Monterrey Bay leads to rich pinot with great depth of flavor that retains its acidity. Pisoni, Roar and Wrath are some of the top producers in the AVA. Santa Maria Valley AVA – Bien Nacido, Julia’s and Solomon Hills are star vineyards in the rare mountain range with east-towest orientation to the Pacific Ocean.

Delivert said, “Solomon Hills is very aromatic and full of citrus, I want to show that blood orange and grapefruit in our Tolosa bottling.”

Sta. Rita Hills – An unmistakable collection of spice, tobacco, cracked pepper and leather flavors mixed with fresh strawberry, cherry and even cranberry flavors emerge from SRH bottlings. Alma Rosa, Babcock, Fiddlehead, Foxen, Longoria, Melville, Sea Smoke and The Hilt are a few of my favorites.

Sonoma Coast – Rugged and windswept; the Pacific Ocean and San Pablo Bay are the temperature moderators here. Flavors include cherry, black cherry, strawberry, wet earth and dried leaves. The Kosta Browne bottling has a 10-year vertical in my cellar. Kutch, Peay and Rivers-Marie stand out.

STARVED ROCK COUNTRY

3 SHAW MEDIA Shaw Media / ShawLocal.com • Saturday, October 17, 2020

Dedicated to growing the awareness of everything the Starved Rock area has to offer

Ryan Searl - rsearl@shawmedia.com

Co-hosting the Outdoor Literary Festival is Prairie Fox Books, an independent shop in downtown Ottawa.

Outdoor Literary Festival to debut with top authors

By RYAN SEARL

rsearl@shawmedia.com

A

n Outdoor Literary Festival will grace Ottawa’s Washington Square Park on Saturday, Oct. 17. Prairie Fox Books has invited more than 20 authors, including New York Times best-selling writers Kate Hannigan and Liesl Shurtliff, to showcase their works at this social distance-friendly outdoor event.

Located in the heart of historic downtown Ottawa, Prairie Fox Books is a fiercely independent store selling a remarkable selection of literature.

Spanning nearly any genre you could think of – thrillers, mysteries, general fiction, nonfiction, graphic novels, and a sprawling middle grade and young adult novel department – this cozy store has it all. Prairie Fox also features a small picture book selection,

carefully curated to not overlap with the options offered at the neighboring educational store, Rock Paper Scissors.

You’ll also find that the store stocks a wide variety of book-related merchandise, such as apparel featuring the covers of classic novels, literary-themed socks, stationery, cards, magnets and other assorted gifts and collectibles.

Prairie Fox Books’ historic brick building normally would play host to a variety of exciting author events and literary-themed parties throughout the year, but COVID-19 has waylaid plans for many of those gatherings.

In an effort to support local authors and bring literature events back to a community of voracious readers, Prairie Fox has created the inaugural Outdoor Literary Festival in nearby Washington Square Park. The beautifully manicured downtown park, which hosted the first of the famed

Lincoln-Douglas debates, is a perfect open-air event space.

Co-sponsored by the Reddick Public Library District and Prairie Fox Books, the festival will run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 17. More than 20 authors will be in attendance signing books, selling copies of their latest works and discussing literature with fans old and new.

New York Times best-selling middle grade authors Kate Hannigan (“Cape,” “The Detective’s Assistant”) and Liesl Shurtliff (“RUMP: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin”) both will be in attendance with copies of their novels.

Local historical authors Jim Riddings and Dan Churney also will be on hand, with copies of their books devoted to Starved Rock Country’s storied past. Author tables will be safely distanced throughout the park, with only two authors at each table.

Dig Doug’s BBQ food truck and

Tropical Sno shaved ice will set up in the park to provide food and snacks for the event.

After you visit the Literary Festival, be sure to take a stroll around Ottawa. Many of the downtown’s boutiques will host special sidewalk sales from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to celebrate the arrival of the fall season. The festivities don’t end there; an open-air artisan market will be held on Madison Street, with live music by Christina Eltrevoog. Open Space Art Gallery and Studios, also located on Madison Street, will present a free pumpkin painting craft.

Don’t miss these fun, family-friendly and socially distant festivities. For more festival information, follow Prairie Fox Books on Facebook. The shop is at 719 La Salle St.; for more details, call 815-433-7323 or visit prairiefoxbooks.com.

Shaw Media / ShawLocal.com • Saturday, October 17, 2020

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4

AUTUMN

TOAST

Fall-inspired drinks that go beyond pumpkin lattes

By VICKI MARTINKA PETERSEN For Shaw Media

W

hy should coffee drinkers have all the fun when it comes to fall drinks? From Oktoberfest-style lagers to beers inspired by your favorite breakfast foods, here are some fall-oriented beverages to enjoy while the leaves change.

ENERGY CITY BREWING 917 First St., Batavia www.energycitybrewing.com For all the pumpkin spice lovers out there, Energy City Brewing creates its Milkshake Pumpkin Spice beer. The pale ale is brewed with pumpkin puree, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and milk sugar. While mimosas get all the attention at brunch, Energy City Brewing offers a beer counterpart with Bistro Grande Blueberry & Banana Pancakes. Comparable to the brewery’s Blueberry Pancakes beer, this version balances the tartness of blueberries with the sweetness of banana and New Hampshire maple syrup. Be sure to check the website for the latest offerings each week for drive-thru pickup.

GALENA CELLARS 477 S. Third St., Geneva www.galenacellars.com If a road trip to its vineyard in Galena isn’t in the cards anytime soon, you can stop by a Galena Cellars store for a wine tasting closer to home. Pick up a bottle of Oktoberfest wine on your way to a socially distanced Oktoberfest gathering. The popular German-style, semi-dry white wine is a blend of traminette, riesling and muscat grapes.

The Late Harvest Riesling, a dessert wine, features a blend of melon and peach flavors. Looking to warm up on a cool fall evening? The Caramel Apple wine, produced from apples grown in Wisconsin, can be served warm.

MARTINI ROOM 161 E. Chicago St., Elgin www.martiniroomelgin.com If you’re not ready to hang out in public just yet, the Martini Room offers cocktails to go for curbside pickup. The cocktail selection includes fall-inspired flavors such as the Bloody Pomegranate martini, featuring blood orange vodka, pomegranate liqueur, triple sec and pomegranate and lime juices. Or try the Starburst martini with citrus vodka and peach schnapps with a touch of cranberry, orange and pineapple juices.

PENROSE BREWING 509 Stevens St., Geneva www.penrosebrewing.com Fresh favorites are always on tap at Penrose Brewing, which specializes in small-batch brewing. Its rotating selection features new and seasonal beers, such as the debut last fall of Dryft, a Mosaic hop-forward India pale ale. Also jumping on the breakfast-inspired bandwagon, Penrose offers Pancake Robots, an imperial stout with maple syrup and vanilla – perfect to pick up before heading to a fall brunch. Check the website for the latest on curbside pickups and on-site service.

TWO BROTHERS ROUNDHOUSE 205 N. Broadway Ave., Aurora www.twobrothersbrewing.com/restaurants/ roundhouse Nestled inside the historic roundhouse formerly used at the end of the BNSF rail line to redirect trains back to Chicago, Two Brothers Roundhouse offers a variety of seasonal beers and specialty brews like the Atom Smasher.

This oak-aged Oktoberfest-style lager features a blend of roasted malt, caramel and toffee. The Heavy Handed wethopped IPA, available in October, pairs nicely with fall favorites like a caramel apple tart or slice of ginger spice cake.

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Corn mazes provide fun twists and turns to puzzle solvers SHAW MEDIA

E

ach year, Denise Boggio comes up with the theme for the corn maze at Boggio’s Orchard and Produce.

Then she hand draws the design before a company comes in to map it into the cornfield.

“I come up with it based on the feel of the season or what I think the season is going to be like,” Boggio said.

This year, however, was a bit different as the orchard was asked to be part of the #AllInIllinois program.

To fit the theme, Boggio drew a pair of hands holding a heart with the state hashtag underneath.

“Everybody needs to get together this year,” Boggio said. “It kind of hits home.”

Here’s a list of local corn mazes to enjoy this season.

Boggio’s Orchard and Produce 12087 Illinois Route 71, Granville 815-339-2245 www.BoggiosOrchardAndProduce.com Ho urs: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Saturday; 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday Admission: $4 per person Find the three hidden stamps in Boggio’s 5-acre maze, and you can fill out a ticket for a chance to win $100. The maze is not scary, but it is recommended that children younger than age 7 be accompanied by an adult or older sibling.

Richardson Adventure Farm 909 English Prairie Road, Spring Grove 815-675-9729 www.RichardsonAdventureFarm.com Ho urs: 3 to 9 p.m. Thursdays; 10 a.m. to

11 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays; noon to 9 p.m. Sundays through Nov. 8 Ad mission: $18-$20 for ages 13 and older, and $15-$17 for ages 3-12; free for ages 2 and younger Touted as the “World’s Largest Corn Maze,” Richardson Adventure Farm’s maze offers adventurers a 9-mile trail winding through 28 acres of corn. The maze is made up of four smaller mazes that each have their own dedicated in and out path. It’s up to you whether to do one maze or all four.

This year’s design is a tribute to the 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day celebration, a milestone that was recognized in the spring.

Jonamac Orchard 19412 Shabbona Road, Malta 815-825-2158 www.JonamacOrchard.com Ho urs: 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Fridays and Sundays; 9 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Saturdays Admission: $5 per person Jonamac Orchard is celebrating the 125th anniversary of Northern Illinois University with its 2020 corn maze design.

Jonamac also hosts a Haunted Maze for those looking for a good fright. Recommended for ages 13 and older, the haunted maze is open from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays in October. Admission is $15 per person. Flashlights are not allowed, only glow sticks or penlights.

Konow’s Corn Maze 16849 S. Cedar Road, Homer Glen 708-301-8845 www.KonowsCornMaze.com

Ho urs: 2 to 8 p.m. Monday-Friday, closed Tuesday; 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday Ad mission: $10 per person Monday-Friday; $12 per person Saturday and Sunday; free for ages 2 and younger Konow’s offers two mazes: One for serious puzzlers who enjoy finding their way through about 3 miles of twists and turns and a smaller maze for those who only want to walk a short distance or those with small children.

Heap’s Giant Pumpkin Farm 4853 Highway 52, Minooka 815-651-7288 www.HeapsGiantPumpkinFarm.com Hours: 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. daily Ad mission: $6 per person weekdays; $8 per person weekends; free for ages 2 and younger Heap’s Corn Maze consists of acres of winding and twisting trails.

Thrill-seekers will receive a map to help find checkpoints throughout the maze. Those who find all the checkpoints and fill out their information on the map can turn it in for a chance to win a giant pumpkin. Heap’s usually hosts a haunted corn maze and a flashlight maze, but those are closed for the 2020 season.

Siegel’s Cottonwood Farm 17250 S. Weber Road, Lockport 815-741-2693 www.OurPumpkinFarm.com Ho urs: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. SaturdaysSundays Ad mission: $16.95 general admission online, $19.95 general admission onsite; free for ages 2 and younger

This year’s corn maze at Siegel’s Cottonwood Farm is all about unity and love for each other. The 2020 theme of the 12-acre maze is “Peace on Earth.” Children age 12 and younger must be accompanied by an adult.

The farm also offers more than 35 attractions for the price of admission, including a smaller 2-acre maze for children.

All Seasons Orchard 14510 Illinois Route 176, Woodstock 815-338-5637 www.AllSeasonsOrchard.com Ho urs: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday Ad mission: $10 per person weekdays; $15 per person weekends; free for ages 2 and younger Each year, 10 acres at All Seasons is transformed into a corn maze with more than 3 miles of pathways and a lookout bridge. The maze has two paths: a shorter one for youngsters, and a more challenging one for the maze enthusiast.

Kuipers Family Farm 1N318 Watson Road, Maple Park 815-827-5200 www.KuipersFamilyFarm.com Ho urs: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Saturday; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday Ad mission: $17.99 per person weekdays; $19.99 per person weekends; $11.99 for ages 65 and older; free for ages 2 and younger The Kuipers corn maze features 5 acres of twists, turns and games. More than 20 other attractions are included in the price of admission, as well as a free pumpkin.

SHAW MEDIA Shaw Media / ShawLocal.com • Saturday, October 17, 2020

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Shaw Media / ShawLocal.com • Saturday, October 17, 2020

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6 STREAMING THIS WEEKEND

‘Chicago 7,’ Adam Wright, ‘Social Distance’ on tap

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Here’s a collection curated by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists of what’s arriving on TV, streaming services and music platforms this week.

Film

The timing of Aaron Sorkin’s “The Trial of the Chicago 7” is remarkably

good for a film set in 1969 and 1970.

Sorkin’s drama, which debuted Friday on Netflix after a brief run in theaters, is first and foremost a portrait of protest in all its messiness, idealism and potential. Made with a starry ensemble including Mark Rylance, Sacha Baron Cohen, Eddie Redmayne and Michael Keaton, the film dramatizes – with Sorkin’s characteristic snappy dialogue and sweeping theatricality – the events surrounding the trial of anti-war activists who were charged with conspiracy to incite a riot during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. In the seminal standoff between counterculture and government, Sorkin (who wrote and directed) crafts a timely paean to dissent.

– AP Film Writer Jake Coyle

AP photo

This image released by Netflix shows Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Bobby Seale in a scene from “The Trial of the Chicago 7.”

Music

Nashville songwriter Adam Wright may have sensed we could all use a laugh, and so he has released a witty antidote to 2020 with “I Win.” Wright, whose compositions have been performed by such stars as Garth Brooks, Lee Ann Womack and Alan Jackson (his uncle), wisely kept these 12 tunes for himself. The whimsical tone is in the tradition of Roger Miller and Ray

Stevens, whose sly humor made songs funny even on repeated listening.

“I Win” is a quarantine accomplishment – one-man-band Wright performed, recorded, mixed and produced the set.

He plays acoustic and electric guitar, bass, keyboards and percussion, overdubs vocals and achieves a charming, demo-style informality that suits the material. There’s nothing casual about Wright’s songwriting, however. Craft and care are reflected in the way he packs clever rhymes and wordplay into concise tunes. … Not everything here goes for a grin. The love song “Sure Wanna Stay” and the topical “Wonder If the World Can Wait That Long” showcase his yearning tenor. But Wright sings with tongue in cheek about logic, losing at love, cash flow woes and, on “Rhymes With Bucket,” a philosophy for life. He offers a tonic for a pandemic on “Cheer Up,” singing, “Probably going to be here awhile – smile.” This album can help us do just that.

– Steven Wine for AP

Television

While many of us were making sourdough bread, and, if we felt truly creative, posting pet videos, Hilary

Weisman Graham (“Orange Is the New Black”) created “Social Distance” to illuminate our response to pandemic isolation. The Netflix anthology series, consisting of eight, 20-minute episodes, dramatizes the early days of the coronavirus quarantine, including our reliance on technology to maintain a version of emotional connection. Oscar Nunez (“The Office”), Asante Blackk (“This Is Us”) and Ali Ahn (“Orange Is the New Black”) are among the actors in the series.

Ready for a winter chill? Sundance Now’s true crime drama “Des” stars David Tennant (“Doctor Who”) as Dennis Nilsen, a serial killer who targeted young men, including the homeless.

When he was arrested, Nilsen freely claimed responsibility for a shocking number of murders but couldn’t name his victims. Lacking forensic evidence, police began a daunting effort to identify the victims of the innocuous-looking British civil servant (who died in 2018 while serving a life sentence). The three-part “Des” on the streaming service was a recent U.K. TV hit and drew raves for Tennant’s performance.

– AP Television Writer Lynn Elber

7

By PAM OTTO

Taking interesting dives into the natural world around us, Pam Otto opens new avenues of exploration.

Black walnut husks leave squirrel grins

W

e’ve all been there …

That awkward moment when you realize there’s a poppy seed from your morning muffin wedged between your two front teeth. Or that you’re wearing a milk moustache from your lunchtime latte. Or when you find – as I have, more times than I care to count – that you have chocolate frosting smeared, clown like, about your chin and cheeks.

All of these scenarios ran through my mind the other day as I strolled through a native plant garden and saw, not one, but two young squirrels bearing evidence of their latest meal all over their cute little rodent faces.

As they looked down from the oak tree, clucking at either each other or maybe me, it was hard to miss their huge, walnut-eating grins.

Yep, it’s black walnut season again, and these two Sciurus carolinensis were not going to miss a minute of it.

Judging by the quantity of husks I saw on a nearby picnic table, the little gray squirrels had had quite a feast. In fact, the pile was so large, I really couldn’t picture anyone else – anyone human, that is – wanting to eat there. I’d actually tried to clean it up a bit, using a handful of catalpa pods to sweep the bulk of the mass out onto the grass. I got most of the nut “crumbs” cleaned up, but there wasn’t much I could do about the stains they left behind.

If you’ve ever lived near a black walnut tree, or have harvested its fruit, you’re familiar with the staining that occurs when the husks are split.

Maybe you’ve seen it on your sidewalk, if your tree is located next to a walkway. Or on your shoes, if you’ve tromped beneath a black walnut’s spreading boughs. Or on your hands (more on this later).

Juglans nigra possesses an impressive array of pigments, including its namesake juglone, which can be used as a fabric dye as well as a natural coloring agent in foods and cosmetics; plumbagin, a yellow dye once used on the hair and skin; and tannins, which act to set the dyes and make sure they never, ever go away.

Well, at least it seems that way.

Black walnut stains do fade over time, from dark brown to orange to golden yellow. But when those fading stains are on your (my) fingers, because you (I) foolishly decided to remove the husks without wearing gloves, it really does seem like they’re

Photo provided

It’s black walnut season, and squirrels everywhere are sporting walnut-eating grins. Pigments in the nuts’ husks create stains that range from deep yellow to dark brown and last for days or even weeks. going to last forever.

I know this. Here’s why …

Last year’s walnut crop was impressive, and the part of me that likes to occasionally forage wild foods thought it would be fun to gather some of the bounty for holiday baking. Let me tell you, the gathering was the easy part.

Opening the shells was anything but.

As I progressed from channel-lock pliers to hammer to a benchtop-mounted vise, I realized why black walnuts command a price two to three times higher than their English walnut counterparts. And my fingers? Even though I knew better, I still peeled the husks from about a half dozen nuts before putting on gloves; in the days that followed, my digits gradually lightened from brown to yellow. And positively no one complimented me on my dark brown nails, which I ended up cutting off to

remove the last traces of my folly.

Amongst wildlife, the walnut-stain phenomenon is fairly unique to squirrels. Few other of our wild neighbors dare to bite through those thick husks to partake of the deliciousness within.

Sure, mice and chipmunks might gnaw on the nutshells once the husks are gone, but it’s primarily squirrels – both the gray and the fox (Sciurus niger) – that have the determination to conquer the husks, as well as the dentition and jaw strength needed to chip away at those infamously tough shells.

The squirrels I spotted will probably bear the marks of their walnut meal for at least a week or two. In fact, with black walnut season in full swing, the pair are likely to indulge several more times before winter sets in. Which means their faces will stay stained for some time to come.

You might have walnut-eating rodents in your neck of the woods too. The next time you see a squirrel, look for abnormally dark coloration around the mouth. If the staining is deep, you might at first think the squirrel is injured. (I know I did when I saw this phenomenon for the first time.) But if you can get a closer look, with binoculars or the zoom feature on a camera, you’ll see that the coloration isn’t a sore or dried blood. It’s just fur, dyed brown.

When you think about it, a walnut-eating grin isn’t really much different from a milk moustache or a face smeared with chocolate. Man or beast, we’ve all been there.

• Pam Otto is the outreach ambassador for the St. Charles Park District.

She can be reached at 630-513-4346 or potto@stcparks.org.

SHAW MEDIA Shaw Media / ShawLocal.com • Saturday, October 17, 2020

GOOD NATURED

Shaw Media / ShawLocal.com • Saturday, October 17, 2020

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8

WOODHAVEN LAKES Private Recreational Campground

So Much to See. So Much to Do.

Hiking Trails. Woodlands. Nature. Lakes. WiFi. Pools. Crafts. Movies. Fitness Center. Prairie. Deer. Pavilions. Arcade. Mini Golf.

Day Camp. Tennis. Basketball. Live Music. Theme Activities. Fireworks. Painting Parties. Open Markets. Social Events. Volleyball.

Shuffleboard. Teen Dances. Car Show. Paddleboats. Sledding. Farmers Markets. Night Hikes. Campfires. Fishing. Tournaments.

Pickleball. Acoustic Nights. Wine & Cheese Social. Road Rally. Golf Outing. 5K/3K. Haunted House. Canoing. Anything That Floats.

Horseshoes. Petting Zoo. Wagon Rides. Aqua Zumba. Playgrounds. Karaoke. Family Fun Night. Coffee Hour. Clubs. DJs. Scavenger Hunts. Kayaking. Tug of War. Food Fairs. Picnics.

Sublette IL | 815-849-5209

www.woodhavenassociation.com

Call us for a tour!

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