This is the top of a giant Acorn. Not a real acorn from a really large tree, but a fake acorn atop a gazebo in Silver Spring. Why an Acorn? Well I don’t know that. But the park in which is resides and which is named after the gazebo has another unique feature to it…. the actual Silver Spring. Though many people want to call it Silver Springs, there is actually only one spring. Either way, the story goes: when Francis Preston Blair was riding out of DC with his daughter, she fell off her horse and saw a beautiful spring. (those who have seen the PBS history of Silver Spring documentary have seen a historical reinactment of this event) The spring looked shiny like it had silver in it. Blair became so enfatuated with the location, he made it is summer home two years later. The acorn shaped Gazebo was installed by blair as something in which he and his family could sit and enjoy the view of the nearby spring. Here’s a shot of the full gazebo: acorn-cropped.jpg
I think I just heard a squirrel fainting from joy at the sight of that thing.