Pine cones

Seeing this sign got me thinking about pine cones.

You're not supposed to collect the native variety. Not unless they've opened and released their seeds. Even then, I'm not sure it's legal within a national park.

As infant warmongers, they were the pretend hand grenades that complemented our trusty stick rifles.

Crafty parents/older siblings might spray-paint them silver to make Xmas decs. Plenty of peeps used 'em to kick-start their fireplaces or outdoor wood barbecues.

Especially talented folks transformed 'em into cute hedgehogs worthy of stop-motion animating.

One of sister EM's colleagues created edible pine cones out of Milo cereal artfully fixed around a cake core. She said he told her, "Never again - too much work."