Some relevant updates, here from the PDX mycorenewal front:

- Went mushroom hunting with Corey and his dad on the coast. We experienced a moment of horror when we thought the porcini were infected with this terrifying white-powdery mold, but then much to our relief Corey deduced that they were another species, Old Man something, which is good because first of all it is far too early for the porcini to be out and second of all they are so delicious, a mold that killed them all would be tragic beyond words.

- We went to the Milwaukie Farmer's market last Sunday. Surprisingly, there was no culinary mushroom stand in sight! So we talked to the market managers, and it turned out they had a space they were more than eager enough to rent for us. The idea of going into the mushroom-selling business still feels a little hard for my brain to wrap around: very self-made man, little-house-on-the-prairie. But very appealing for my increasingly hippie-like brain. We found about 20 pounds of chanterelles and lobsters last Friday alone, so we have more than enough booty to share. We’re thinking of selling five-dollar units in little baskets. Most prices we’ve seen (at other markets and in Whole Foods and the like) seem outrageously expensive, like ten dollars for a pound of chanterelles (!). I guess that price can be considered a reflection of the labor that goes into retrieving those “golden treasures,” what with all the gas price drama. But such a price can really turn off people from ever trying wild-grown mushrooms.

- Don Delio (our shaman friend from Cuyabeno) called us at 1:30AM this morning, after we'd nodding off in the middle of an episode of "The Wire" (rented from the local public library). This would make it about 4:30AM Ecuadorean time. From what I could understand in my blurry, fuzzy head sleep-state, he was in Lago Agrio just calling to say hello. I hope everything's all right with him and his family, regardless... I can definitely say that I never thought I'd be awakened in the night from a phone call from a shaman. The experience was unhappily reminiscent of all those terrible "who will take the 3AM call???" advertisements airing on the idiot box.

Some more links-happy-go-clicky fun:
- In this current political climate, Chevron doesn’t want to be left out of the fun!

- The case continues to move forward (this article has an especially good summary of the extent of the contamination in the community, as well as of Chevron’s tricky-dicky dealings with the trial up to this point)

- This is interesting too, although I have to admit I had to look up “indict” just to be sure that I understood what the article was about (hey, don’t I seem refreshingly open and candid compared to most other “blog” “writers” with such an admission?). I like the plaintiff’s summary of Chevron’s supposed clean-up attempt as “merely dumping dirt on pits of oil and water rather than removing the pollutants.”