or so i found out today.
you see, for the last couple of weeks, there have been some strange goings-on in our front yard. and the number of happenings has seemingly been increasing.
i started seeing an older chinese woman with a baby in a stroller in our front yard apparently looking in our bushes with a stick and walking around the perimeter of our yard, everyday at about 4pm.
then we started to see small groups throughout the day doing the same thing. weekdays, weekends, ever increasing.
we didn't really ask why, we just figured they knew our landlord and/or each other and our front yard was as good of a place as any to hang out.
then last night there was a family of four at 9pm with a rope slung about in the tree, and a couple of large buckets, in the dark, silently pulling on the rope and then stopping when we drove by. it was then that we started to think that something special was in the tree. the prickly things that brian was enjoying smashing on our way indoors must be something other than what we thought.
and at 6:30am this morning when i was leaving for work, and older chinese woman was in the front yard in the dark, with tte aid of a pin light putting these prickly treasures into her plastic bag.
brian did research and within minutes found out that what is on our front yard are coveted chinese chestnuts.
after talking with my co-worker, i guess that this kind of thing (the coming to your yard at all hours of the day and night to gather things like these, laden with ropes and buckets and bags) is quite normal around here.
