Mushroom Hunting With The Natural Science Club!

 Today was out first outing as a school club.   With all of the "newness" going on..   AND homecoming....  I have not had any opportunities to actually schedule an outing for the natural Science club at all until this week.   Friday we met and I pitched the idea of going mushroom hunting in the Petrified Springs recreation area.  I was going to probably go anyway, so why not add a few extra people? 

I knew that there was going to be a few folks who would not be able to make it.   The people in Cross Country had an grade school invitational that they had to cater, so I know at least one person would not be able to get away.   That being said... I was impressed that a number of folks showed up for the meeting.   (I think 12! in all!)  

But then the actual day of the outing came. ( Today!)   And only three students were able to attend.  

 I was actually thrilled! First:  that ANY students showed up!   And second,  I tend to work better with smaller groups anyway, so it was probably a little easier to keep track of three as opposed to 6 or 9....   

We found a LOT of Bonnet Mushrooms.   Most of the mushrooms we found were on logs or stumps.   I had hoped that the rain we had at the beginning of the week would trigger a few ground mushrooms.   But is appeared all we were going to find were the saprophytic mushrooms.  

I was ecstatic when we found some fresh Lions Mane.  A small clump, but it was still the first edible mushroom we found.  We also found some aborted entoloma.  Not much,  but it was encouraging after two hours of disappointment.  ( Mostly for me,  not the kids.   They seemed to be having fun finding and ID ing the mushrooms.) 

eventually, on our way back,   we bumped into a couple who actually knew mushrooms.    They told us of a Hen of the Woods they saw  just down the trail, but warned us that it looked too old to be of any use.   I still wanted to find it, se we set out to the general location.   Elias was standing on a huge stump when he looked down to find  two huge specimens!   

They did look a little old.   One of them looked like it could still be edible,  but all of the bugs that settled in pretty much clued us in that we were not going to enjoy it.   But the Kids got to see it and I took the remains and scattered them through out the forest.  Hopefully seeding the possibilities for next year. 

So that was today.   A fun Saturday with the Science Club.   One of them suggested next time to see if we can either catch frogs in one of the ponds or see if we can catch some insects.    That sounds like a good time to me,  so I will have to see if I can set that one up.  

But next week,   I am going to be a little busy running a half marathon.   The Lakefront Marathon I ran last year will be on Sunday.  I am not running the full marathon this year.  Just the half!  I actually managed to fit in a long run this morning ( 12.25 miles)   I was not happy with the time,
but I did manage to finish.   And I was breaking in some new shoes, so I didn't want to mess up my feet this close to the event.   I think I can at least finish, ( maybe not in the best time frame)  And add to my half marathon collection.   I'll keep you posted. 

And that is about all for now.   School seems to be growing on me and I hope I continue to improve my teaching as the year progresses.  With God helping me,  I feel I can at least manage growing and finishing this year with a modest "Win".   I don't want to brag, or become arrogant...  So I will leave things there.  I continue to be grateful for this opportunity everyday.   And I want to give God all of the credit.   For in the end,  if I can be a part of getting these kids to join us in heaven,   I will be humbled and gracious beyond words.   Because every second counts!