Siblings & Fungi

Hello everyone. It's Siblings Day, where those of us with siblings try to take some time and say "Hey, you're pretty cool". I only have one sibling and yeah, Tess is pretty cool. She's a veterinarian (not to be confused with veteran which can also shorten to 'vet') and as I've said in some recent Random Tuesday post, she's someone that I admire.

As I pulled up the page for a new blog post, I was reminded that one of my earliest blog entries was about a trip that Tess and I took to Michigan. This was back during the summer between high school and college and Tess and I set out on a road trip with two things in mind: visiting Mackinac Island and witnessing the majesty that is the Humongous Fungus. When my sister learned that the world's largest organism colloquially referred to as the Humongous Fungus was not only in the US, but close enough for a road trip to the UP, it was clear what her summer would include.

Anyway, the road trip was a blast and we had a lot of fun along the way. Here's a really old blog entry with a laundry list of things we did, if you feel so inclined. It was my first time to Mackinac Island and I really liked the atmosphere. There was a serenity with knowing that the island was largely a place to enjoy the scenery and shop for things, including delicious, delicious fudge. One thing I did not realize was how much Mackinac Island is a honeymoon location, so Tess and I were mistakenly identified as a recently married pair on more than one occasion. To be fair, we did rent a tandem bike and kicked butt with our jaunt around the island.

In terms of the fungus dubbed so humungous, we didn't physically see it as much as we walked and drove over it. The fungus covers 37 acres and to quote the woman working the bar/restaurant where we stopped for lunch one day, "it's [the fungus] is underneath this whole godd**n town". Sadly, we were not driving through the infamous Humongous Fungus Festival, but did learn that the fungus has an equally large roommate known as the Humongous Mushroom.


When I woke up this morning, I wasn't expecting to type this sequence of words, but I'm getting off-track from talking about Tess due to my apparent nostalgia towards very large fungi. So to get back on track, I'll repeat that Tess is awesome, intelligent, and passionate about exploring the world. She's been able to travel for vet volunteering a few times in South America and then of course there was the big Ireland trip one summer for us and my mom. Definitely some good memories.

Well, it's a little too late for comfort since I have to be up and going early tomorrow morning for a conference. Many of the nerd folk already know this, but tomorrow is International Table Top Day, so hopefully I can connect with my gaming friends after I return from the conference. Other than that, tomorrow is also Barbershop Quartet Day, International "Louie Louie" Day, and National Pet Day. Lot of possibilities for fun reminiscing.

DFTBA