The Moral of the Morel

                              

                                 The Moral of the Morel
                                       by Linda Faris

This is a story of a day in the life of me. Somehow, I am able to find adventure almost every day. Sometimes the adventures are small and may seem insignificant to others, sometimes, the adventures are huge. This particular day was huge in my estimation.

One day last spring, I drove out to my favorite running spot. It was a fine evening. It had been a warm spring day, the time was around six o’clock and the night coolness was intermixed with the warmth left over from the day. The air was fresh, pure and clean…full of promise for a spectacular run. I decided to make this a “run as fast as I can” run. Sometimes, I don’t worry about my pace, (who am I kidding? I always worry about my pace!) I guess what I’m trying to say is sometimes I try to run as fast as possible in an effort to improve my overall fitness and running ability. This was going to be a maximum performance run.

I parked my car just off the highway, hopped out and jumped onto the Mopac Trail. I pushed the “start” button on my GPS Forerunner, (my method of keeping track of my runs, pace, calories burned, routes, about anything you want to know including ovulation dates) and headed out for what I hoped would be 5 miles in record time (for me).

Running along happily, thinking to myself how great I was doing and feeling anxious to see how fast the first mile was going to be, I played the usual mind games with myself…if I run this one too fast, it might slow me down overall, no, don’t worry, run as fast as you can, it’s a great night, no holds barred, left right left right left right, smile!!! This is a great run…keep on truckin’, I am doing fantastic, I think I am definitely going to have a PR tonight, wow, what a great night, what a great run, etc, etc…when all of a sudden at 0.6 mile…. I DROPPED MY KEYS!!!!!!! Oh crap…now that is definitely going to slow my time down that I have to STOP and lean over and pick up my damn keys!!! How could I be so CLUMSY to drop my damn keys!!! Oh heck, maybe I will just leave them here and pick them up on the way back (as if!). ARRRRGGGHHHH!

With great reluctance, I stopped and leaned over to pick up my keys, aware of the precious seconds I was losing in my “great time”…and all of a sudden, the Universe reminded me ever so gently…”It’s all okay, Linda, there is a reason for everything.” I sighed, relaxed and remembered being uptight about unexpected events is a complete waste of time and energy.

The Universe is full of gifts and treasures, if we but pay attention. As I leaned over to pick up my keys, out of the corner of my eye, just over the bank of the Mopac Trail, standing in glory much like a beautiful castle on a Scottish moor, was a TRUFFLE!!! In fact, that is the exact word that rebounded and echoed in my brain as I laid eyes on the little beauty, “TRUFFLE!!!”

I will explain now, “truffle” is a slang word for the edible mushroom known as a morel. These fungal gems are available for only a few short weeks each spring, and one must be particulary wily to be able to find them. I have enjoyed “hunting” morels, as long as I can remember. I’m not sure where the term “truffle” came from, my family, or perhaps a regional colloquialism, it doesn’t matter to me…I had just found a truffle in the most unlikely of spots at the most unlikely time. And that made me giddy.

Next decision to be made: pick the truffle now and bag the run, or mark the spot, continue the run and pick the truffle on my way back. I decided to continue the run, despite the fact that my PR had just fizzled for the night, and grab that pretty boy on my way back.

I headed back down the trail with visions of truffles crowding thoughts of my PR completely out of my consciousness.

Morel magnetization is very strong. Ah heck, the run was officially over, I ran back to where I saw that truffle!!!

I scrambled down the bank and with great delight, picked that morsel and giggled to myself about how great the Universe and my life are. As I picked that truffle, in customary fashion, I scanned 360 degrees around the spot. Behold!!! MORE TRUFFLES!!!! Yeehaw!!! I scrambled up and down those banks, in and out of thick briar and bramble…first 10 truffles, then 20 truffles, the more I picked the more I found.

I was unstoppable!!! I was completely unaware of the scratches and grazes on my exposed skin, I was focused on my fungal cache. I had found so many, I could no longer hold them in my hands. I whipped off my running singlet, tied the sleeve holes and neck hole together and fashioned a mushroom sack.

I spent the next hour and a half or so filling my sack with my trophies! It was so much fun!!!

Eventually, I realized how much time had passed and I headed back home…I’m pretty sure I looked like a wild woman to the people I passed on the trail as I headed back to my car…covered in blood oozing scratches and abrasions, dirt, sticks in my hair, a sack full of some mysterious collection and a huge grin on my face.

Back home, I counted my truffles…over 200!!! I may not have accomplished a running PR this night, but an important lesson was reimpressed on me…don’t sweat the small stuff and remain open to all the gifts of the Universe no matter what form they may take. In my case, the gift was dropping my keys. It was a great night and a great lesson!

April 11, 2010