"Oak Pair" (oil, 11x14" on birch panel) was painted Saturday, September 2nd. I'd just finished hunting edible mushrooms at Proud Lake State Park and had driven to another part of the park, Powers Beach. It's early fall in Michigan, and we'd had several days of rain, so the mushrooms have just started to pop. I'd bagged my first grifola frondosa of the year, so I was sweaty, happy and covered in little pickers & cockleburrs. Powers Beach is a very quiet, little-used park that I love. Walking out under all those big oak trees is like walking into a cathedral. The sky was threatening rain again, but I parked my van anyway and lugged my painting gear up a small hill to this spot. The minute I'd set up everything and put my brush to the panel, it started sprinkling rain! I tilted the old french easel forward (bought for $50 back in '87 at a garage sale) and used my biggest brush and painted as fast as I could. I think I finished this one in about 5 minutes. I had to -- oil and water sure don't mix!

And what about the grifola frondosa? The next day I cooked a huge batch of spaghetti sauce with it and canned 6 quarts.