Morning walk

Here are some scenes from this morning's walk.

It's morel season, and it pays to keep one's eyes open during walks along the wood verges. At least two species of morel grow here, but neither ever seems abundant. The one in the image is the only one I've seen so far this year.

The little yellow violet is Viola pubescens , a very common species here. There are places in the woods where yellow and purple violets grow together and make a lively combination.

The final image is of a section of Rock Creek; the water is relatively high due to recent rains. I have seen kingfishers, wood ducks and mallards here, and an Eastern Phoebe haunts the nearby bridge.

Eating locally

While walking Biscuit this evening, we stopped at one of our usual corners; Biscuit seemed undecided about which way she wanted to go. While waiting for her to make up her mind, I was absentmindedly scanning the vegetation in the area. I noticed a patch of seemingly dead grass, and then, on second look, I noticed something else, something exciting. There, pushing up through the grass at the edge of the dead grass patch were morels, several big, fat morels.

I pass this place as a rule twice a day when walking Biscuit. The morels were not newly emerged - to judge by the bit of dryness on some of them, they had probably been up a day or two. But they were still fresh and esculent.

Now to get out some cream, butter, eggs and maybe a bit of chives and parsley - some thick, crusty, toasted, real bread will serve to soak up all the goodness.