May 17 is #NationalWalnutDay. What could be more appropriate than a snippet from Sees Behind Trees by Michael Dorris, the story of a Native American boy named Walnut, who is extremely near-sighted.
“Walnut.” My name in my mother’s mouth was tired, pounded into flour. “You know the rule: you must find the target before breakfast can find you.”
I nodded. If that was the rule, I wouldn’t eat for a long time. We had faced this matter of what I couldn’t see many times before—when my mother would point to something I couldn’t locate or throw a ball I couldn’t catch—but it had never before been such serious business. Now we couldn’t just act as though nothing was wrong. Now we had to solve the problem.
Unless Walnut can hit a target with his bow and arrow, he won’t be able to prove he’s a man and earn a man’s name. But with the help of his mother and the wisdom of the elders, he earns the name Sees Behind Trees. #ComingOfAge #NativeAmerican #JourneyTale #MGFavorite
