Who would plant that tree with the prickly things?

Fall has shown itself here in the Northwest and there are changes happening every where. Our pond that is usually hopping with excitement is now quiet. Our green full trees are now orange, red, yellow, and thinning. 

One of those trees really caught my eye last week. Falling from this tree were these round, prickly, balls. I am a city girl so I of course had no idea what these nasty little balls were, until I cracked one open. It is a chestnut tree!!! I love roasted chestnuts and now they are FREE! This tells me there is so much on this land that I can use. As a city girl I never thought twice about where those chestnuts came from and I was happy to pay the price to buy them. Now they are priceless.