Joe Bryant

*Shared by Joseph "Joe Bryant*

For over 40 years, I wore my pharmacist's coat, helping people feel a little better each day. I loved the work, the familiar faces, and the feeling that I was making a difference in my community. But behind the counter, I had a passion few people knew about—mushroom hunting.

 

It may seem unusual, but wandering through the woods, scanning the ground for hidden fungi, brought me a peace and thrill I couldn’t find anywhere else. My fascination with mushrooms wasn’t something I talked about often, but those who knew me best understood. I was part of a group called the “Fungi Fanatics.” We were a small band of mushroom enthusiasts who traveled across the country, searching for rare species. I loved the camaraderie of the group and the feeling of setting out together before dawn, gear in hand, hoping that today would be the day we’d find something special.

 

One of my proudest mushroom adventures happened in Florida, when I decided to search for the Ringless Honey Mushroom. I had read all about it and seen it in field guides, but I wanted to see it up close, in its natural habitat. In 2003, I made the trip with my fellow Fungi Fanatics, heading down to Florida’s humid, shaded woodlands, where I knew the Ringless Honey Mushroom liked to hide.We set out that morning before the sun was fully up, our footsteps crunching softly over leaves and branches. After hours of careful searching, just as the day was warming up, one of the group called out, pointing beneath an old oak. And there they were—a small patch of Ringless Honey Mushrooms, their smooth, golden-brown caps almost glistening in the morning dew. This hobby brought me a lot of pleasure and time to refresh my being.

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It also brought me the most fun whenever I offered to cook up some of my wild mushrooms for people who were not in my group. They would look skeptical and respond .......awwww, maybe not!!