Chestnutphobia -- From the Blogosphere

From  "The Sheila Variations" 2003:
THE CHESTNUT ARMY

Last night, with a sky that looked like impending doom, and a wind that literally blew me down the street, I went and got groceries. And struggled my way, against the wind, up the hill home. It actually was kind of fun. There was no rain. But the wind was a formidable opponent.

The only really dangerous thing I had to deal with, in terms of Hurricane Isabel, was being dive-bombed from above by falling chestnuts.

One of them hit me on the noggin. I thought it was a bolt from the blue, I thought it was an invisible lightning strike, I shrieked as though I had been electrocuted. Then I saw the shiny hard chestnut rolling on the sidewalk. Like an idiot, I stood and contemplated it for a moment. I love chestnuts. And in that moment, 5 more came hurtling down from the tree and pummeled me about the head and neck.
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From honigmaeulchen on Dailybooth.com --

2) Autumn is my favourite season, I even like it if it's grey and misty all day. But this time of the year I always develop a totally irrational fear of being hit by a chestnut falling out of a tree. I mean: Look at the spikes on that shell! It's like a RL minesweeper-bomb coming out of nowhere to kill you! (If you are laughing about me right now, I want to point out to you that there are people out there who are afraid of being hit by the remainings of a New Year rocket falling from the sky. THAT's stupid!) –

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Japanese Journal of Clinical Ophthalmology(2005)

Two cases of corneal injury by chestnut burs

Abstract;We observed two cases of corneal injury hit by falling chestnut burs. One was a 31-year old woman and the other was a 65-year-old man. Both were collecting chestnuts. The burs had penetrated the corneal stroma with their tips protruding into the anterior chamber. Removal under the microscope was difficult due to fragility of burs and presence of splinters. Additional keratotomy was needed in one case. Cure was obtained in both cases leaving corneal opacity. Chestnut burs contain a toxin saponin, which will induce inflammation when left in situ. We advocate early removal of chestnut burs taking their structural features into consideration. (author abst.)