Winter Predictions

I was talking to my Dad yesterday on the phone and I asked him if he had heard anything about what this winter was suppose to be like this year.  He said no that he hadn't heard anything yet, but one of his friends told him that the persimmon seed this year is showing a spoon.  I asked Daddy if he put much faith in the seed and he told me no but we would just have to wait and see.

For those of you not familiar with the persimmon seed prediction, basically it works like this.  You take a persimmon seed and hold it between a pair of needle nose pliers and then slice the seed in half.  If the kernel is spoon-shaped it means lots of heavy wet snow; if the kernel is fork shaped it means  powdery light snow and a mild winter, if the kernel is knife shaped it means ice and bitter icy cutting winds. Here's an image I pulled off of Google to give you an example of a spoon shape in a seed.

http://soloroadtrip.com/2009/11/02/travel-taste-buds/a-spoon-in-my-persimmon/

The link I used was just one I came across on google images but I noticed she had a recipe for persimmon bread that some of you might want to try so I just copied the link for you as well.

Any of you checked out a wooly worm lately? I haven't seen any yet. What do you think this winter will be like and do you trust any folklore predictions?  I have noticed that there have been a LOT of acorn and hickory nuts on the ground this year...maybe nature is preparing for lots of snow...I hope so :)