Skunked !

Sunday, the boys and I headed south to meet up with my Mom and Brother. We planned to go on a mushroom hunt, looking for the elusive Morel. From reports I've gotten from my neighbor(a seasoned hunter) and "The Mushroom Guy", my dad, they are fruiting now. My bro has a secret spot he was willing to share with us, with mushroom hunters all spots are secret. When we got to the spot there was a truck in the lot, kind of strange since it's a small  piece of public land with no real purpose other than an area for animals to live. There are no trails, no hunting, no fishing, no nothing, just woods. Within minutes we found 2 Morels. Finding these would mean the "right spot" should yield a large amount of these tasty fungi. A few minutes later we ran into the guys who were parked in the lot. To my surprise, it was a guy both my brother and I have worked with off and on over the last ten years. He was also hunting this spot, only by the fact that it was revealed to him by my brother, with the understanding that he would not return without him. Lesson learned: don't reveal good spots to anyone if you want it for yourself. It wasn't a big deal this time, since they only found four Morels. We didn't find any more the rest of the hike but had fun anyway. Some might argue that the woods (public) don't belong to anyone and everything is fair game,which is true, but....... What you need to understand is my dad is a mushroom master, my brother and I have been exposed to hunting many different varieties of mushrooms for over twenty years, whether we liked it or not. It started when we were young kids on camping trips and day hikes all over the state. When I say master I mean it, he now grows them for a living, in the past he has headlined sold out seminars, teaching the science of fungi and identification of wild edibles. We as a family, have spent many hours and days hiking and searching out wild mushrooms. When you find a good spot it is usually good  for a long time, giving it away is foolish. My dad has been burned by "friends" many times and now has become even more secretive. These "friends" tell their friends, and pretty soon a good area is crawling with people and there is not a Morel to be found. The ease of identification of the Morel also brings out lots of people. Later in the year when many other varieties come out, less people are hunting them, as it's difficult to discern edible from deadly. I'll try a few of my spots later in the week.............just don't ask where

Our one lonely Morel 

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The kids tried to pick up this guy, not a good idea, it's the biggest one I've ever seen, about 3.5 feet long

My brother is moving soon and has been burning things in the back yard that he wants to get rid of. Most of it is scraps of wood, but also includes clothing, furniture, books, anything flammable and this bike.  

As kids, one of our(my bro and I) favorite pastimes was destroying things. This included bikes , TVs, cars,  motorcycles, a boat, other kids bikes, and anything breakable. Sunday was just like being a kid again

Fixable?