While hunting mushrooms at one of my favorite places today at the Missessinewa reservoir, after finding my first and only mushroom of the day, right next to the same log I have found them for years, my reverie was interrupted by another fellow hunter within twenty feet of me. He told me he had found 40-50 on Sunday in the same area. Never mind that the spot was in the midst of the 22,000 acres of the reservoir property, and never mind that I was a good half mile from the road in the middle of the deepest part of this beautiful woods. He went on to tell me that this spot had become a hot spot, but that this year it had been over picked.
It is hard to imagine that such a large largely inaccessible area could be over picked.There are no towns nearby,and nothing to distinguish this spot from the rest of the woods. The understory has lots of thorny roses, far from easy going, large hills and no real landmarks.
This shows how competitive the sport is now. I know how many miles of searching I and my brother and sister did to find this spot and several other people have found it as well. It boggles the mind.
I still have the ability to see mushrooms from a good distance, and the one I found was missed by the other guy. I remember the time a few years ago when I got there first and found a large bag full.
It is hard to hang it up after only finding two for the whole year, but this has been consistent with the outcomes the last few years.
The day before I did a little fishing, no luck and driftwood gathering. The Missessinewa Reservoir was pulled down to just a trickle during the winter, but came up forty feet above normal summer pool, an enormous rise, which left great piles of driftwood eveywhere. Amazing.
Little activity, at the shop lately. Working on using up the material I have before it dries out.
I do have a display of my handmade rustic willow furniture at big hat books and arts, and also at the Judge Stone house.
Looking forward to Talbot Street coming up the second weekend in June.
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