Instincts

I think there are two kind of instincts.  The kind we're born with and the kind that must be built.  An example natural instinct would be to avoid something that smells bad and built instinct would be that of an athlete that can't help but chase after a ball.  Instinct also couples well with an understanding of whatever it is you're using your instinct on.  

The oaks in the yard are dropping acorns like crazy.  I went out and gathered some with the goal being to leach the tannin out and use it as a stain.  Well, then I figured I might as well process the acorns and get the calories out of them.  This is something I had never done before but it seemed simple enough.  I'd read a little bit about it but nothing too extensive.  I went for it.  I boiled the acorns until the water was just real dark and milky brown then I transferred the acorns into clean boiling water until that water turned the same color as before.  At this point a lot of water had boiled out of the both pots so I poured the second pot into the first pot and refilled the second pot and got that water boiling again.  Anyway, I boiled the acorns three times in clean water until the water was really dark and milky.  This was all loosely based off of some stuff I had read.  

The next part is where instinct kicked in.  This was natural instinct and it came in when I had to shell all the acorns.  I'd never really shelled many acorns but just started going at them like a squirrel does.  Split it with your teeth then tear it open to reveal the nutty core.  It was funny how the method just developed on it's own naturally and how I go so proficient at it.  I sat by an open fire and shelled away until they were all done.  Maybe the fire helped keep me focused.  After you finish shelling them then you mash them all together and it's ready to bake.

Now when I figure out the primitive method of all of this I'd definitely make a video on it as it is of great interest to me to follow in our ancestors' footsteps and retrace to see and feel what their lives were like.



Late night stream of consciousness....