How is spring mushrooming in our neck of the woods? Unfortunately, our 2,000+ mile odyssey this spring pretty much removed us from the hearty group of springtime mushroomers. While our journey was great and seeing old friends was wonderful, we feel the loss of hours spent in the woodlands seeking out morels and boletes.
Where have we been these last couple of weeks? Well, it seems everywhere. First, there was a workshop sponsored by SAAL in Monmouth to help organize VOICE, an organization whose mission is to engage communities by advocating for the rights of people with developmental disabilities. From there we headed to Long Beach, Washington for a couple of days of vacation and to attend the awards ceremony at my old high school across the river in Warrenton, Oregon. For the last 20+ years Steven and I, along with my sister's family, have presented a small scholarship there. It's in memory of and honor of my parents, who were long-time residents of this small northern Oregon coastal town. This year, three outstanding graduating seniors received the award, tying a record. After the event, we were off on a scenic drive up thru the Canadian coastal mountains to the town of Oyama in central British Columbia for a great, albeit short, visit with dear friends, Jim and Judy.
We were inspired by Steve Trudell's class.
Leaving Canada, we made our way back into Oregon for a quick foray around Mt. Hood, where we were greeted by several large, late-season warted puffballs and a collection of king boletes conveniently growing beside the road. Knowing that we wouldn't be back in Port Orford for another week or so, we quickly sliced the mushrooms that evening and set them in dehydrators in order to preserve them for future use.
Friday night found us among 25 fortunate students in a photography workshop taught by Steve Trudell, sponsored by the Oregon Mycological Society and well-organized by OMS member Sava Krstic. We first got acquainted with Steve, his knowledge of mycology and his remarkable talent for photography when we were members of the Puget Sound Mycological Society in Seattle. He's continued his relationship with PSMS over the years and is currently an affiliate professor in the College of Forest Resources and lecturer in the Biology Department at the University of Washington. Steve's been identifying and photographing mushrooms and studying their ecology for over 30 years. He's widely respected for his mycological knowledge, writes for several mycological publications, and frequently serves as foray mycologist or invited lecturer for mycological societies and other nature groups. Together with Joe Ammirati, he's also co-author of the fine recent book, Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest, which is a must-have for any northwest mushroomer. We also know him as simply a great guy and congenial companion.
The first night of the 3 day workshop was a get-acquainted session and lecture on the basics of mushroom photography. He shared the following basic photography good practices during that first session:
- Work with good quality material (i.e., mushrooms)
- Show all critical ID features
- Preserve ecological integrity
- Keep things in focus
- Ambient light is best, but ...
- Avoid direct sunlight
- No flying saucers
- Strive for attractive compositions
- Break these rules when necessary
Saturday was a field trip to the Tillamook forest, followed by another evening presentation. Sadly, we had to miss the Sunday event and discussion of photographs in order to be back in Port Orford by Sunday night.
Two nights at home and we were off for Bend for a quick business trip and an afternoon walk about for morels and maybe some spring kings. Thanks to an e-mail from Linda of the Central Oregon Mushroom Club, we were optimistic as we hunted around Green Ridge and the road to Mt. Bachelor. All in all, it was a great adventure - and isn't it always fun to explore new territory? - but the collection in our mushroom basket was very limited. Our largest find was an astonishing group of Suillus tomentosus, lovely to look at but reputedly somewhat insipid as an edible.
So, now you know what's been happening with the Taylors. Let's hope that you, too have made some memorable mushroom memories over the past month. Take good care, dear readers!