I Learn Something New Every Day...

I will forever be a lifetime student. If it were possible, I would take  one class after the other, trying to soak up new knowledge each day. It would have been nice if I had  this gusto when I was in school. I could have cared less then. However, now learning anything new  is an exciting wonderful possibility.

I have more books than I will probably ever read. The subject matter of these books varies from the Bible to the Koran, from history books to memoirs, from fiction to fantasy and every 'how to book'  in between. One of my focus points now is on 'bee keeping'.  I am very interested in this and want to have bee boxes one day. Over the past few years I noticed the bee population in Missouri has taken a nose dive. Without  bees, our agriculture looks dismal. It is on my 'To Learn' list and is near the top. Actually, it is located three spots down the list from "How to Get Obama Impeached."  Tommy is not as excited about the bees as I am. He knows me and he is really hoping this idea will evaporate. It won't.  As for getting Obama impeached, he says he will not visit me in a FEMA camp when they finally round me up!! Hmmm If I go he is going with me...guilty by association!!   Anyway...

Around nine o'clock last night, one of our friends called and wanted to bring us some fall mushrooms called 'Hen in the Woods'.  I laughed and said , "Bring it on" thinking it would be a chicken. Let the learning begin.  Honestly, I didn't know there were edible mushrooms to be found in the Fall.  When I think of hunting mushrooms it is in the Spring.  Usually, they start growing when the  May Apples appear and the Crappie begin to bite. In the fall they pop up from September through November.  After the first hard frost they will be done for the year.

Within a few minutes Joe was here with a huge clump of mushrooms. He brought each of us a fried mushroom from his home to taste.  It was awesome, tasting like a Morel. I bet it weighed ten pounds and was enough for at least four meals.  Joe also had a book entitled "Missouri's Wild Mushrooms" by Maxine Stone. I looked through the book and knew I had to own a copy.  When hunting mushrooms, people have to be very careful. Some of the wild mushrooms are poisonous and resemble  non poisonous mushrooms. I ordered the book this morning and will go mushroom hunting this afternoon. It seems the Hen in the Woods mushrooms grow at the edges of tall red oak trees in the middle of fields. Never would I have looked for mushrooms there. Usually we find them down by the river. I learn something new every day and as far as I am concerned...that is a good thing.  I am about to become an avid fall mushroom hunter:)