conquering conkers

It's a lovely autumnal morning. Many leaves have fallen off the trees in London during the couple of storms we've seen the tail ends of and because there's been no rain, we've had perfect conditions for leaf-kicking. I'm rather pleased to have seen many children enjoying this particular pursuit. What is far less acceptable is the number of fine-looking conkers that you see these days lying pathetically under horse chestnut trees. In my day, kids were so keen to get conkers that they'd throw sticks into trees or risk life and limb climbing over walls into gardens where a fine crop had been spotted. Nowadays, young people are too busy in a world of virtual reality, over-stimulated by technology and shallow impermanence. Online conkering could well become the next fad, with conkers which look so real, you'd almost think you were holding them. As I type, the word "conker" is being autocorrected to the word "commerce!"