On getting out of my car at the top of Morr's driveway, he greeted me and other early arrivals with an apologetic smile proclaiming: "There is nothing out there. No morels! We looked already and saw nothing!" But Santo had e-mailed me the evening before to say that morels had been found at a friend's place, just where they appeared the year previously - so we had reason to believe we might find morels if we were super obvervant. After a large group of hopeful hunters assembled for a photo, we set out to see if we could prove Morrs' initial proclamation inaccurate. It took awhile, but one by one, our eyes adjusted to the task and we began to find the black morels we always find under the grand tulip trees. Some of us were more successful than others... (Damon and Jennifer). But most found at least a few, with the exception of myself, though I did mange to get a photo of the biggest one found - by Wanda and her friend. We collectively decided we needed a few more warm days and then a good soaking to entice the rest of the morels to make an appearance.

Aside from black morels (Morchella elata), we found about four small half-freemorels (Morchella semilibera); a lovely young crop of mica caps (Coprinus micaceus), some teeny white cup fungi, orange-yellow mycelium, split-gill (Schizophyllum commune); small terrestrial orange cups; turkey-tail (Trametes versicolor) and spaulted wood. The spring woodland ferns and flowers were coming up- as well as the garlic mustard and poison ivy, but everything was relatively delayed compared with this time last year.

After the hunt, we sat down for one of the most delicious picnic lunches I have ever broused! Anne Fitzpatrick brought Irish cheddar, unusual dried fruits and breads - and her infamous crabmeant salad! Others contributed fat frest strawberries and nuts of all persuasions as well as home-made cookies. Kathy and Joe Brandt brought fruit breads, home-made jams and the most incredibly beautiful and only salad of its kind most of us have ever tasted: it consisted of freshly sliced young Japanese knot weed shoots, garlic mustard leaves and flowers, pickled chicken mushrooms (with boletes and several other mushrooms), sliced almonds, wild violet flowers and assorted other ingredients steeped in a sesame sauce. Yum! What a treat!

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