Tuesday was my 'hike or ride with Olive' day. Olive had texted me Monday evening to let me know she had found the Mother Lode of cool fungi in a forest that her husband's family owns. We decided to go at 10 AM because the heat on Tuesday afternoon was to be fierce.
She had found the Mother Lode!
Shrimp of the Woods was everywhere! She picked, and I photographed. We poured out gobs of sweat and hiked ...and brush busted through the woods getting full of stick tights and all sorts of nasty little burrs. We laughed and exclaimed how fun it was to find someone else as adventurous as we two were.
Apparently her husband is not into diving through the underbrush just to find dried up old mushrooms and exclaim OHHH! AHHH! Or to grab fungi from the dirt and marvel at their beauty. [However, he will eat what she cooks!]
I learned that Olive was indeed the adventurous type. After college, she took a year and went to New Zealand to hike a 2,000 mile trail. She said it was an epic adventure and she learned by trial and error about back packing. She learned about blisters, heat rash, and dealing with forces of nature.
I told her I was jealous, but admired her.
We hiked and explored for about 2 hours before we hopped back into her beat up Subaru and headed home. We traveled both times with the windows down as her A/C hadn't worked since she'd beat up her car when she did a short stint as a Rural Postal Carrier.
I'd taken a lot of photos and we'd covered a lot of ground.
We both thought it would be fun to come back after the snow fell and snowshoe through the woods.
She dropped me off.
Two hours later she texted me with an urgent message. Her parents had Covid they'd been at their house on Saturday. She had been exposed but presented with no symptoms.
Well now.
I'm wearing a mask in the house and doing all I can to keep separate from hubby.
This morning I received an update. Olive had to take her son to the ER last night and he tested negative, but has a full blown ear infection, teething, and a cold.
Her husband is negative too. So now we just wait and see while still practicing all the cautions I can...
Ever drink coffee with a straw?
Interesting.
