Hiding in the Woods

Hoosiers are a different breed. You will never find any more genuine, sincere, give you the shirt off their back people anywhere in the U.S. (that I have lived at least, and that is a lot of places!)Hoosier hospitality is definitely alive and well in Southern Indiana. Until it comes to Morrells.

Now I had never heard of a Morrell until I moved here 13 years ago (not even when I lived in Muncie or West Lafayette, two other IN cities). Apparently they are a to die for mushroom that until you die, no one else can know the exact spot to hunt for these conehead shaped fungi. I made the mistake during a conversation about them by asking, "So where do you find these things?" Dead silence. Astonished look. You would have thought that I had asked their bra size or how much they weighed. Obviously anyone with any kind of mushroom etiquette NEVER asks a person to divulge their sources. Oh my goodness.

I have tasted them. Once. When many years ago, a co-worker lovingly brought them in to share (one per person) for lunch. Delicious. Really good, if you like eating mold spores, which I happen to indulge in. A good friend of mine realized that as she is allergic to mold, she probably shouldn't be ingested it in mass quantities, thus abstaining.

The shocker is that these little suckers sell for something like $18.00 a pound!! When was the last time you ever paid $18 for a pound of anything (other than at a four star restaurant?) Someone else said that there is no way we should be charging other folks for something God gave us for free. That's the Hoosier spirit.

Yesterday I did have a coworker offer to come over and show me how to hunt in the woods on my property. Guess that would be OK as no one else has (or should) stake their claim on it. But there were two guys mysteriously walking in my woods last night, with two dogs and a suspicious looking plastic bag of brown "stuff". I'm not sure that they were cleaning up after their dogs, either. Maybe I need to post a No Hunting sign. Or charge a dollar for each one found.

Ahhh,the joys of being a Hoosier.