This morning I read a post on Geek Acres referring to a comment on a post at Roundrock Journal regarding mayapples.  The comment was:

“mayapples and morel mushrooms (when spotted) are frequently in the same area.”

Armed with this information, Retta felt it was our duty to immediately begin a search of the area of our property most likely to have mayapples, in hopes of finding the elusive, yet delectable morel mushrooms that might possibly be nearby.  Off we went, heading towards an area that I knew hosted mayapples.  This spot we were seeking is alongside a small spring-fed creek, and the land in this particular area tends to be boggy for a few months a year.  It seemed to be an ideal habitat in which to find morels.

At last we arrived at our destination, and there, in all of their glory, was a group of mayapples.  Our timing was good, as the mayapples are in bloom just now.

This was a nice find on a beautiful Sunday morning.  Retta and I began to search the surrounding area, looking here and there on our quest for the elusive morels.  My searching was being disrupted, however, by a strange and eerie feeling that I was being watched.  This feeling wouldn’t shake me, and so my thoughts soon drifted away from the sought after morels, and instead focused on finding the source my mysterious trepidation.  After a little time spent looking around, it soon became apparent why I had felt spied upon –

Knowing now that my life was not in any danger, I felt obligated to continue on the quest.  There did not appear to be any morels in this area, so we continued on to another likely spot, along an adjacent creek.  Since it was a warm morning, Gracie decided to take a sitz bath in one of her watering holes within the creek bed –

And when she was finished with her sitz bath (or should I say mud bath), she now became the focus of my attention.  And to think, Retta and I had just brushed her out earlier this morning!

After spending some time looking for morels in this location and not finding any, we decided to press on to another spot we thought might be an appropriate environment for these mushrooms.  Along the way, however, we happened to pass a stand of black walnut trees, and decided to spend some time enjoying the beautiful flowers that awaited us there –

Search as we might, there was just no locating those very elusive, tantalizingly tasty morel mushrooms.  So I guess this morning wasn’t a success, was it?