Acorns, pearls and clowns

Q:  Why does my oak tree sometimes have acorns and other years there are none?

A:   It takes up to 25 years for the average oak tree to be mature enough to produce acorns.  Once it starts to produce them it will have bumper crops every three to five years and can do so until it reaches a peak at around 100 years.  At it’s peak it will produce approximately 2200 acorns in a season.   It takes a lot of the tree’s energy to produce the acorns so the years in between help sustain the tree’s own health.  Although many acorns mature in three to four months, the “Red Oak” acorns require a full 15 months (two growing seasons) to develop to maturity.  

      Folklore and the farmer almanac indicate that a bountiful crop of acorns means it will be a hard winter, nature providing a veritable feast to be stored and then used during the icy, snowy winter.  When there is a plentiful supply of acorns, the deer are less likely to eat your trees and evergreens, instead preferring the nutrient rich acorns.  Something to be grateful for while sweeping up the thousands of acorns that fall onto the lawn and driveway.

Q: Is it true that pearls will melt in vinegar?

A  : Yes indeed pearls will eventually dissolve in vinegar, wine or even orange juice.  Vinegar has been used to see if a pearl is real or not.  Rather strange I think, because once you do that it is destroyed and no longer has any value.  Pearls are basically made up of aragonite and calcite which is a calcium carbonite, a chemical makeup that can be dissolved in any acidic liquid.

Q:   Are people actually afraid of clowns or is it a made for TV kind of thing?

A:  Coulrophobia (fear of clowns) is an actual phobia.  People are not born with this or any other phobia, but it is thought that they may have had bad experiences as young children causing a fear reaction later in life. 

       For people who are very attuned to the body language of others, a clown would be an enigma.  It has a permanent expression, usually a smile, and the rest of the actions are not necessarily in line with the expression on the clown’s face.  A happy faced clown exhibiting aggressive behavior could create intense confusion and fear.  If you do not like clowns you have lots of company, including celebrities like Johnny Depp, Carol Burnett and rapper P.Diddy. 

Ask Madalyn welcomes your questions.  Please email : This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .