---

   Damon pulled up on his side-by-side, checking to see if the coffee was on. He had been out riding the trails, clearing fallen trees off the paths.

There seems to be a never ending supply of trees ready to fall whenever we have a storm. It is much easier to clear trails after each windstorm than to wait a month or two until there are a lot of trees down. While drinking coffee and discussing his progress, he mentioned he had seen a big mushroom just off one of the trails. He does not study or care much about mushrooms other than morels but thought this might be a chicken of the woods. I was excited to hear this. Chicken of the woods, though not found frequently, are impressive when a person does find them. They are generally orange and yellow scalloped on the top and often a foot or two wide. When we finished our coffee and Damon got back to work, I asked my wife if she would like to take a ride in the woods. She was a bit apprehensive knowing approximately where we were going but decided to come along as long as I did not go on any trails that were too steep. 

    It was a pleasant morning for a ride. It was about a mile ride to where Damon described the trail that went by the mushroom. We started down a hill nearing a deep ditch when my wife started getting nervous. I assured her, even though it looked like it, I would not drive off the edge of the world.

   We turned a corner and my wife spotted a great big orange and yellow mushroom growing on an old fallen oak tree just off the trail. I pulled up and stopped and hiked the short distance to the log. The closer I got the more mushrooms I saw. There were chicken of the woods mushrooms the length of the rotting log ranging from several inches across to two feet or more. I chose one of the freshest ones, cut in into two pieces and took it back to show my wife. The rest, I left for the deer, turkeys and anything else that might enjoy a meal of fresh mushrooms.

    When we retuned to the house, I cut our mushroom into smaller pieces and soaked them in salt water. Soaking them will draw bugs out if any happened to be hiding in the folds. This was fresh enough, only a couple of insects had time to move in. I bagged up about a gallon and a half and put them in the refrigerator, ready to be made into any number of delicious meals. We have enough of these we need to get busy eating. In a few days, there will be another flush when the oyster mushrooms start producing.

---