Pop, Pop, Pop

My husband and I were standing under a group of pine trees at a local park, deciding what to make for dinner while the girls played on the playground and my son messed around on his little sister’s bike.  I hadn’t had time to make anything before the girls and I came to watch C’s first baseball practice of the season, and now we were all about to head home at what I like to call “hangry hour.” If we were going to survive, we needed a plan.

“Do you hear that?” my husband suddenly asked.  I paused to listen and heard a quiet but distinct popping noise coming from overhead.  Pop, pop, pop. “It’s the pine cones opening up,” he said.

I looked up at the trees, which were covered in pine cones.  Pop, pop, pop. I squinted up at the branches, trying to see what was happening.  I couldn’t make out any movement, but the sound was definitely coming from the trees.  C jumped off the bike and came over to investigate.  Soon the girls had joined us, too.

Pop, pop, pop.  “What’s that?” A asked.

“It’s the pine cones opening up,” I said, still in awe.  I grew up in the Colorado Rockies, surrounded by pine forests, but this was the first time I had ever heard pine cones opening.  Or maybe I have heard them my whole life but never knew what it was.  Either way, it was amazing!