We took a walk around Forest Park yesterday. The weather in Saint Louis this time of the year is unusually beautiful for a Fall/Winter and perfect for a walk in the park. One thing we saw all around the park were pinecones. There were lots of them all around and fun object to pick and play with as we walked around the park.

But did you know that on rainy days, pinecones fold their scales? They do so to prevent seeds from spreading. But on sunny dry days, pinecones open their scales. They do so to spread their seeds at greater distance, far from the parent tree. While wet days are days for retreat, days for silence, dry days are days for building, days for dispersing, days for survival for pinecones. Dry days are how they disperse their seeds, even with scales that also dry, scales mostly dead. But how can seeds spread or even survival from dead cells? Turns out that water plays a huge role. When water is absorbed in response to air humidity, the cones and seeds stick to each other. Whereas, without water, the waterproof seed wing surface rapidly drys, so seeds detach and disperse.

If there is one thing I have learnt from pinecones, it is that your dry days are not only your greatest days, but they are also your days for growth and most definitely your days for survival. Keep being as dry as pinecones.