After a long winter, spring came to Northwest Ohio in a two day 80 degree flip. The weather was splendid, with the lowest humidity we have seen in a long time.
Fire advisories hit the news for those few days, telling us all to not burn or have any fires because of the low humidity and wind advisories. And with all that news and warmth…..the weather was just right for the little Morel mushrooms to pop out of their little hiding places.
My family and I have been big Morel mushroom fans since I can remember. It all started with my father. Avid mushroom hunter, bringing home the tasty treats for my mother to wash, cut butter and warm in a saucepan on the stove.
I remember my father telling me, the mushroom hunters code of secrecy. Any time you find the Morel’s, you do not reveal the specific spot of those treasures! I was thoroughly in! And I wanted to show him that it was serious business, as a 10 year old.
We lived in Sylvania and our little family home was surrounded by woods and good friends from school that rode horses with us. Life was simple then, we had a railroad tracks that ran behind our home with a train that would come by daily and sometimes on weekends. Everyday that we could, we waved to the conductor. It was like having another close friend that we needed to be polite to, so we waved and he would toot the horn for us… and back by that railroad tracks was where we would sometimes burn miscellaneous things, like newspapers and leaves. It was so interesting. And one day, around that area, I found Morel’s the height of my small arm. About 6 or 7 in all, but gorgeous specimens! Enough to truly complement a dinner for the family. I was so excited.
I brought the found treasure to my mother and father. Yelps of joy! Oh my! It was the mother load. We hit the jackpot and little me just moved up the mushroom hunters scale of greatness. Wow, my father was ecstatic. “And where, where did you find them?”, he said hardly able to hold his excitement….My eyes got big…I felt the pressure of the mushroom hunters code. And I looked at him and slowly thought… and then said,
“I can’t tell you”.
My father never found out where I found those Morel’s. And now to this day, my son will not reveal his secret spots to me either.
