Two days in a row, I was on the trail by 6:30, in order to get into the deep woods and choice mushroom hunting grounds before the heat became too oppressive. Being early also serves to beat the bugs to the biggest and best fungi. Day one, Saturday, I was accompanied by Ricky, who is gone overseas more often than not. Sunday was a trip with Ken, who has a good eye, and saw some nice mushrooms that I otherwise would have missed. There were some ripe blueberries to graze on, and many bushes had plenty of green fruit for my return trip in few weeks. Myco-wise, I rounded up the usual suspects, some nice chanterelles, an Indigo Milky(the blue ones), etc. But I got a couple of shots of some different types this week.....

 
Russell's Bolete(Boletellus russelli). They are edible, but it was the only one of it's kind
around so I left it to multiply.

I have seen Crested Crown Coral(Clavicorona pyxidata) fungi before, but never in such
 profusion as there has been this summer.

 I noticed a pair of cup fungi (to the left, just below the log) in this picture
 that I had failed to see when I snapped it. The enlarged photo is below.

Long-stalked Gray Cup (Helvella macropus)

Mason Williams is best known for his acoustic guitar-and-orchestra driven song "Classical Gas". But he also wrote many other fine songs, some serious, some witty, and some jes' plain funny, like the following ditty. It is not sung so much as spoken in a sing-song poetical fashion, like "Smoke that Cigarette" or "Hot Rod Lincoln":

                            J. EDGAR SWOOP

As everyone knows the eagle's supposed to be the symbol of freedom.
They're very respected, government protected; it's against the law to eat 'em.
On dollars and collars and medals for scholars and flags that wag in the wind,
on cigars you puff and American stuff, the eagle is proudly pinned.

With such a position in American tradition eagles are responsible birds,
And moral delinquency's an idiosyncrasy that's seldom if ever incurred.
But there once was an eagle who was not very regal by the name of J. Edgar Swoop.
It was quite often heard that bird's absurd, and ought be kept in a coop.

An example I'd say would be his toupee which he thought made him look debonair.
When he went to the pike he'd always hitchhike; he never did travel by air.
J. hung around the streets downtown. He said "Them mountains are dull.
All that you meet's an occasional sheep or maybe a high fly'n gull."

But the worst thing of all was that he had the gall to wear some baggy ol' knickers.
They were pink and blue plaid and fit him so bad, they caused titters, guffaws, and snickers.
Well, in the government town the word got around about J. Edgar and his antics.
So a meeting was held and some Senators yelled "un-American" and the usual pedantics.
The FBI director, the Federal Bird Inspector, was called in to handle the deal.
He said "It looks like to me this eagle's too free, I 'spect he's gone over the hill."

"Well, there's only one choice" said the people's voice "America's dependin' on us.
We've got to find this bird and give him the word E pluribus unum or bust."
So the FBI, well they went out to try to make J. claw the line.
But he just wouldn't listen so they throwed him in prison to pay for his treacherous crime.

In the government town when things quieted down they decided to make an appendage.
'Cause the symbol of the country was in the penitentiary and they needed a new government image.
A measure was born and committees were formed to find a new Yankee Doodle.
And the symbol that best reflected the West was none but the miniature poodle.
Some argued the fact of what a poodle lacked. "Besides" they said, "They're French."
"But," said the committee "so's the Statue of Liberty.", and it went up before the bench.
Well the measure was passed and the law at last, was entered onto government logs
J. Edgar didn't care, he said "Poodles are queer; America's gone to the dogs".

The following is from a series of articles on American history from the Concord Learning Systems. It humbles me to learn of the sacrifices made by these men that freed us from the yoke of foreign dominance. How many of these CEO's, drawing enormous paychecks and stock option bonuses, would risk all they had to fight for America? Judging from the news, not very many: 

The signers of The Declaration of Independence were, for the most part, wealthy men with much to lose, not the least of which being their very lives, for rebelling against the Crown. But sign it 56 men did. Here are some quick facts about their fates:

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons in the revolutionary army, another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the revolutionary war.

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners, men of means, well educated. But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKean of Delaware was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals, soldiers, or both, looted the properties of Ellery of Rhode Island, Clymer of Pennsylvania, Hall of Georgia, Walton of Georgia, Gwinnett of Georgia, Heyward of South Carolina, Ruttledge of South Carolina, and Middleton of South Carolina.

At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson Jr., of Virginia, noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. The owner quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis of New York had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart of New Jersey was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his grist mill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and a broken heart. Lewis Morris of New York and Philip Livingston of New York suffered similar fates.

Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin were among prominent Americans well known in England. Yet both signed enthusiastically knowing they would be hanged if caught and even if they escaped, Jefferson was risking Monticello and Franklin his wealth and world prestige if independence was not secured.

Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These were not wild eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged:

"For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."

Some pictures taken from the wheelhouse.....

 
Where your sugar comes from

 
Cruise ships are a booming industry in New Orleans 

 
The sternwheeler Natchez, carrying tourists on a trip through the harbor of New Orleans

Dockside, actually the name of the oldest working fleet in New Orleans Harbor

Dauphin Island Bridge, eastbound looking north. See the pelican up there?

North of Mobile, looking south toward the city

Not taken from any wheelhouse, I just like this picture

"I don't have pet peeves. I have major, psychotic hatreds."--George Carlin, 1937-2008

Legend has it that George Carlin was in the club the night that Lenny Bruce did his famous "are there any niggers here tonight?" routine. "I see two wops, a table full of spics...", Lenny harangued, as he recited the litany of racial epithets. It was shocking, but shock was not the only goal, although it was a necessary part of the act. Lenny said "Nigger" over and over, and wanted everybody to go out and say the word repeatedly. Why? So that, in his words, "One day the word will have little meaning, and never again will a black child run home crying because some other kid in the playground called him a nigger." 

George had been doing "safe" comedy for businessmen at conventions, people who were too busy  drinking and networking to listen to his lame jokes anyway. Listening to Bruce, he realized that this edgy, thought-provoking, shibbloleth-trashing was more his cuppa tea. So Carlin, who was already a dope-smoking, trouble-making Air Force miscreant, picked up Lenny's banner, and began poking the ribs of the establishment. He must have envied Lenny, who was arrested for saying a word associated with non-procreative sexual pleasure, as Carlin went on to become famous for saying Seven words that p$#@ed off the c^%ts in power. Those m***^%$ing c^%%$#*ers arrested him for saying that s*#t. F*^K, it really got their t^*^%$s twisted. The court fight that Lenny waged was braver, as the stress("I just said it! I didn't do it!, Lenny pointed out.) contributed to his downfall. But the ground was broken, and Carlin's case was settled in a Wisconsin courtroom, wherein a wise judge re-affirmed Carlin's (and ours) first Amendment rights. A later case rendered the words unusable on TV and radio during day and evening hours when children might be expected to be listening. Which is why I first heard the words on the proverbial playground, instead of on "Father Knows Best".

Carlin continued to push the envelope, onstage and off. He developed a bad drug habit, which almost killed him, and finally he kicked it, but relapsed, and had to go into rehab in 2004 to kick a Vicodin addiction. He riled the christians with his routine about reducing the ten commandments to two. "The first five are BS, screw 'em....", it starts out. Don't Steal, and Don't Kill, I believe were the two he ended up keeping. Fine by me. He certainly pushed my buttons a couple of times. His comment about liking to watch planes crash and buildings fall I thought was a bit irresponsible. But he said it before 9/11, and recalling it afterward made him seem almost prescient, in a bitter and distorted way. I never heard if he regretted saying that after the Towers fell, but his job wasn't apology. His job was verbal shock and awe. Any number of comedians nowadays use dirty words, but only to get a cheap laugh. Carlin's use of words was to make the words less powerful, so that the ideas he put forth were the issue, not the words he used to convey them. The words were drum rolls, trumpet fanfares, to get our attention.

One of my favorite Carlin shticks was his juxtaposition of words that did not belong together. Military Intelligence, Business Ethics, jumbo shrimp, etc. Carlin had an ear for the absurd, and I winced several times while listening to him when I realized that I was guilty of what he was lampooning. I still laughed; such was his gift. And it is a gift that keeps on giving. Sorry George, I bet you hated that line.