Do you know the mushroom man?

We "went" on vacation this week, with much of the week spent in town, doing the tourist things we never get around to. We saw dinosaur bones at the Field (the bugs in the prehistoric forest were the best part), played in the fountain at Navy Pier, took the water taxi to the Shedd and back … then we went to Grandma and Grandpa's for a quick visit.

As you all know, we've been getting a little rain lately. (Okay, we've been getting deluged and flooded.) Bad news for many farmers and homeowners, but great weather for the mushrooms — they fall far enough within the veggie category to satisfy our little veg head. We're often at the library checking out mushroom hunting field guides for E to read — which, of course, makes the librarians very interested.

Well, we didn't bring any of our books to Grandma and Grandpa's house because they have their own collection. But when we got there, E wanted a larger selection, so we decided to head to the public library to check a few stories out.

Janesburg has had more than its fair share of rain, and the library is right next to the river. So we went over to see how high it was running (VERY), and discovered a marvelous collection of mushrooms along the banks. But before we even got into the building, we stumbled onto even more mushrooms by the sculpture garden — lots of different kinds, including some of our favorite Dog Stinkhorns. That got someone excited, and determined to find a mushroom book.

Once inside, E wanted nothing to do with the story books. He went straight for the adult nonfiction section, leaving John and I to search for the perfect mushroom book (John's book was much better than the one I found) while he "read" about the history of fish and about amphibians and snakes.

I snagged a couple of more traditional stories for bedtime, but the mushroom book was really the success of the trip. First thing every morning (think 6:25), he would jump out of bed and open it to either the page with the Dog Stinkhorns, or to the "ugliest mushroom ever" (I don't remember its real name).

We also made a trip to the Farmer's Market, where he enjoyed talking heirloom tomatoes with the tomato woman, and learning about some new squash with a farmer who'd brought a load in the back of his pickup. But, really, the mushrooms were the true winners in his mind.