Cheryl Wins A Major Award! Red, White, and BOOM!

So Cheryl just got a surprise package in the mail today.   Apparently,  she secured the Second Place for her age group... Or masters... I don't really know which.   But 2nd Place!  Nonetheless!   And they mailed her her award.  A Pin.
Just when we thought Cheryl was never going to win anything ever again.... and just when we thought that this year was going to be a crappy year for running....  Our hopes and dreams of failure are DASHED!  Like a ship on the rocks...  These awards have a way to just Ruin Our Self loathing and depression by arriving at random times.   No warning!  You think they would at least send an E-Mail telling you to prepare yourself for joy or something.

But now she has another award...  to add to her growing collection of awards.   All a terrible reminder about how "Good" a runner she really is.   Despite what her own body tells her everyday.   You would think Cheryl would be a better judge of her running ability.

To qualify things, and to make Cheryl feel "better" about feeling bad,  I remind her that maybe the hot weather of this summer kept all the really "good" athletes away.  And she won the medal by default.  It is possible!   And that would explain how this has happened time and time again in almost every race we ran this year.  ( She ran... I just watch and try to document her failures.) All that prize money, gift cards, wooden plates and additional trophies, medals and awards.   All fake!    Just to congratulate her for showing up after age 45.  How humiliating!

But enough about Cheryl.  This year,  the Fawn Mushroom (Pluteus atricapillus)Pluteus atricapillus (formerly P. cervinus) has been poping up all around us.   Not much else to report, other than that.   I have been watching this particular mushroom for some time, since they tend to grow in the rotting stumps around our apartment.   Well, this year,  I finally took the plunge and sampled one.

Tasty!  And I'm still alive... so far.   (It has been three days)   There are a number of look-alikes, but the ring around the stem where the gills do not touch,  the Pink Sporeprint, and the Location of seriously decaying wood, all make me think that this is the correct, edible species.  I found it to be rather tasty. ( much like the white mushrooms you find in the store.) and another species I can positively Identify... and live to tell the tale.

It has been entirely too dry for much else to talk about.   Chanterelles are missing as well as the Boletes.   Only the mushrooms that grow on logs seem to be having a good year this year.