The sky grew darker in the afternoon. Then the rain and wind began to wham the black walnuts onto the rooftop. I stayed inside, watching and listening to the roar and racket. That was over two weeks ago. The hulls have now blackened. Squirrels have an abundance. I look out and remember my elementary years, when I was happy to discard the walnut hulls, hammer the nuts out of the shell on a sidewalk, and give my mother a bowl full of walnut goodies. She made some kind of desser