1000 Small (Heavy) Things by Sam Archer
February 8th, 2013 11:28 AM / Location: 37.771079,-122.5002(Including the edible kind.)
Hazelnuts in the shell are like nature's marbles. Made for dropping. What would happen if a thousand of them were dropped in one spot? How would the biome react? Once the question occurred to me I had to know the answer.
Most grocery stores only stock them seasonally around Christmastime, but Berkeley Bowl and its ridiculously broad selection of bulk foods came through for me. The cashier didn't bat an eye; I'm sure she sees weirder things every day than someone buying seven and a half pounds of hazelnuts and nothing else.
I needed to make sure I dropped them in exactly the right spot. Spots? My own judgement is not to be trusted with tasks this important. I knew the answer was out there somewhere, staring me in the face, if only I could look for it with the right eyes.
I needed to think like a nut.
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
He's taunting me.
Calculations and notes on the subject of one thousand hazelnuts.
Sometimes you feel like a nut.
A pattern emerges. The city shows me the way.
12 vote(s)
Robert Warren
4
Chase of SF0
5
Markov Walker
3
relet 裁判長
3
Idøntity matrix
5
Bex.
5
Pixie
3
Samantha
5
Joy
3
anna one
5
Hortvald Inki
3
mock piratey turtle
Terms
(none yet)8 comment(s)
It was in fact 1 pile (of >1000 nuts) that I moved 3 times. I thought the first time would draw a swarm of squirrels and/or bluejays that would look awesome in a timelapse video, and when it didn't I decided rather than admit defeat I'd gather the nuts up and drop them again somewhere else. Then I did it again. And again. When on the last attempt I saw the squirrels pass within 2 feet of the pile without noticing it, I decided they'd proved their point and I'd just post a montage of my failures.
The last drop was in the Shakespeare Garden, one week ago today. Odds are good that humans will have gathered them up even if squirrels haven't, but you might find some shells lying around.
The squirrels usually take mere seconds to collect whatever edibles you drop in the park. They seem to have forgotten the nature of nuts.
At one point I tossed a single nut to a squirrel and he jumped on it. My theory is that they do not recognize nuts when they're in a big pile, or they think it's a trap, or something.
Did you celebrate by dropping anything small or heavy?
I'm'a celebrate by doing another task. I've had one in mind for a while, just need to find the time and gumption.
So am I to understand that there are 3 piles of around 300 nuts in golden gate park? Are they still there for the finding?
I may find myself treasure hunting.