Dear Wildlife Gardener,

You are correct - You have not failed in your mission to bring me delightful fungal jewels and to put a smile on my face. Thank you! It's very thoughtful of you to take the time to do this.

The timing of my discovery of your fungal jewels could not have been better, as I learned yesterday that an employee of a rehab facility, where ma mere is currently located for a broken hip, had informed my P.U. (parental unit) that she would be going home in less than a month. Not. It appears that not all of the actors are on the same page. Sigh. (This is akin to trying to herd cats.)

So...I was mulling over that rehab tidbit and dreaming up an antidote to it when I decided to browse through the blogs I like. Immediately upon seeing the fungal jewels, I smiled to myself, thinking that not _everything_ was completely upside down in my world right now. And I promptly fell asleep.

I haven't seen any mushrooms in my yard this year at all, save for a clump of pedestrian toadstools outside the back door after one deluge earlier this summer. Basically, it hasn't rained for the rest of the summer, and fall continues to be brittle and dry - although gloriously colored leaves should be a fringe benefit of the dry weather.

Thank you again for sharing the schrooms! I had no idea they could be so lovely.

Your impressed fan,
Pajamadeen

The Wildlife Gardener responds: Amazing the restorative powers of unusual fungi! I know very little about the fungi of the USA except that some of the edible ones here are poisonous there, and vice versa. Watch this space for toads and oak apples.