Finding a Chicken In The Woods Of Wisconsin!

I was first going to title this blog post "The Miracle of the Port-a-jon."  But then I discovered this awesome mushroom on my run through the park here in Kenosha. So... Mushrooms take Priority.   That is just how I roll...

Oh!  Don't worry,  I will get to the Port-a-jon story too.   In fact, I will start with that, as that is how the order of events happen.  And I know that the title of that story is the one that piques the most interest.   So here it goes...

After two large cups of coffee this morning,  I decided to go out for a jog in the park.  My morning runs have been hindered by the GXO job this last week.  I find that I simply do not have much energy for a 3 mile run after work,  so I had been planning on running a little longer this weekend.   

It was a wonderful morning.    Overcast skies, cool breeze,  moderate humidity.  It had rained the last couple days, so everything has cooled off nicely.  I get about 2 miles into the run and the coffee begins to hit me.   And not in the "I have all this energy" way..... no, no, no.....  More like the "I better find a bathroom FAST before I have  an accident!" way.  

Now some of you might think:   No biggy, just find a tree and relieve yourself.  However, this was not the call of nature I was experiencing.   This would require facilities and some cleaning equipment.  And the Rec Center in the park was not open on Saturday!   My only other option would be to see if I could pucker up and gimp my way to the beer garden about another three quarters of a mile away. 

But then..... It appeared!

A lone Port-a-jon!  Sent by the heavens, and left by the construction crew over the weekend... just for me! Perfectly placed so I would not have to suffer or risk biological explosion.  Like a light at the end of  the tunnel;  Like a Rainbow at the end of a flood;  Or a pot of gold at the end of that Rainbow.   It practically glowed in the mostly overcast sunless morning.  I was saved!

It reminded me of a story when I was in the Army.   We had to do a short 6 mile road march, and only 6 out of the 28 people in our platoon showed up to do it.  With about 2 miles to go,  several of us must have ate the same concoction  at the mess hall, because we all had to go the same thing at the same time.   Vanderplas and Wilson decided they would just veer off into the woods and try their luck with the lack of toilet paper.  But the rest of us decided we would risk it and try to make the lone port-a-jon near the baseball field.   It seemed to take forever... as you can not run under those conditions.  Especially with a ruck on your back and weapon in your arms.   But I managed to make it.   Senior and Vauhn skipped the Port-a-jon and headed to the gym, leaving their M16's with Sgt, Moore.... Who was not happy over our performance. 

Ink Caps in the lawn.

Ok, back to the title story...  After fixing my "issue,"  I started running again towards the park.   As I approached the beer garden, I noticed several ink caps in the lawn.  Perhaps the mushroom, that have been absent this entire time I have been here, could make an appearance!   I began to look around and found some evidence that there might be some types that I could spot.   A Dog Stink horn being one of my most exciting ones.  

Ink caps on wood chips.

I found a few standard Ink Caps as well.   And some other unidentified ones growing on some woodchips.  

Unknown mushroom.

I had focused on Oysters or Chanterelles at this stage in the summer,   But alas... I found nothing!  

I was about to give up when at some point on one of the hiking trails, I heard a thud of a walnut or hickory nut hit the ground.   I paused, looked around and continued on, thinking it was a squirrel or something that was dropping them.   As I made my way down a little more,  I heard an entire tree branch hit the ground. A loud noise like that tends to grab my attention.   If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it... does it make a sound?   And if someone IS there to hear the sound...  What will he do?  

The answer:  Turn around and investigate.    The sign from nature is to obvious not too!   

Mild tasting Russula.

As I turn around..  I see the Chicken of the woods on the side of a fallen log.  I had missed it because it was on the side where I could not see it from my first direction.   ( So listen to nature when she is trying to tell you something....) 

Field Bolete...

As I harvested that mushroom, I noticed a Brittlegill and a few Field Boletes.   And then....  Another HUGE Chicken of the woods!

This one was large enough to make me feel it was time to go.   I had more mushroom than I could reasonably carry. Any more would have been overkill.  

As I carried them in my arms, I had to travel about 3 miles to get back home.   I must have looked awkward, but I didn't care.  I eagerly told any stranger who made eye contact for more than two seconds that I had the best tasting mushroom on the planet!   Surprisingly, there were not many people who made 2 second eye contact.   But that did not dampen my spirits!     

At one point, a man stopped to offer me a ride.  He must have thought I needed help.  I politely refused the ride since I was almost home. (But not before telling him everything I know about the Chicken of the woods!) I  still thanked him for the offer.  ( We are still surrounded by nice people.) 

Once I got home, I cleaned up the mushrooms by cutting out all of the bark and debris that the mushroom grows around.  I saved the cut off parts for  future planting expeditions.  I have read that adding water and blending up the cut offs and pouring the contents on a log or old tree could inoculate a future harvest site.   We shall try it.   Why not spread the love for other people.  Now if I can just find Dave's Blender.....

Time to sample some...

I had to eat the Russula right away.  ( Brittle gill)   To see if it was one of the tasty ones.   It was.   It was not as strong an almond taste as I have had before, but it was still good.   I tend to like Russulas because there is a knack to identifying them.   ( At least the edible ones.) And if you get one of the really good ones,  it is totally worth it!  (Russula versicolor)  I think.... Americans are so scared when it comes to eating Russulas.  Europeans have been eating them for thousands of years.  

Tasty Russula.

I also had to cook up a little of the Chicken mushroom to make sure it was tasty.   It is!   (of course)  and I can't wait to have some on my salad later today.   I will see if I can save some for Dave when he gets back from his little vacation.  

Dave and Grand Daughter.

By the way,  Dave became a Grandpa last Wednesday, ( I think,  I have lost track of the days lately)  His grand Daughter was born  6 days later than the Doctors predicted...  Proving that the kid ultimately gets to pick the birthday...   I think the entire Pagel Family is enjoying the moment. 

Milkweed beetle.

Well... Back to work tomorrow.  I think the job is getting a little easier now that I have figured out how things are done.  It helps to know how to be useful and learn the ropes.  The only complaint is that I have so little time to blog about stuff.   Then again,  outside of work, there is not much else to blog about... So i guess it all evens out in the end.  

Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend so far.  If you have enjoyed some rain over the last few days,  Try your luck at some mushrooming outdoors!  Even if you don't find any Chickens, Chanterelles or oysters... you will still be able to say you got to walk around in the woods.  And that is never a bad thing.  Thanks for stopping in.