Thrill of the Hunt

Kinda like bicycles - where it seems I tend toward enjoying the project or potential build as much as I do the reward of riding - morel hunting gets me in a happy place. I took the day off to work from home but set out around noon to a spot that I knew had some fruit a couple years back. No luck. Checked another. Wandered some more. Saw some other cool things along the way - first turtle of the year, freshly emerged from her mud hole. Then on the way back home a couple hundred yards from the house something drew me off the trail. Then I heard some turkeys calling and rustling the dead leaves ahead so I squatted to wait as they drew closer. They appeared to me about 25yds away through the honeysuckle, then must have caught my scent and darted a different direction. All of the sudden I look down and behold, my first morel. Thanks turkey! Found a few others, picked some and left a few thumbies there to grow a couple more days. Sauteéd up and they're not much better than what I can find at the store, but the hunt made it special. Time for a bike ride - I mean, get back to work...