Don’t Be Skunked by the Sunday Scaries 🦨

As some of you longtime Sunday Scaries readers know, Jim loves flora and fauna, and one of the things we’ve done together since early in our relationship is forage for mushrooms.

Last summer, we were totally skunked due to an atypically dry summer. So, naturally, after one well-timed bout of precipitation and some promising temperatures, Jim decided it was time to go all-in on morel season.

Jim has been approaching about morel season like it’s a national holiday for the last ten years, despite coming up empty pretty consistently when hunting the little buggers.

So, despite us coming off the driest winter on record, he decided it was time to pack up the drone, the dog, and the terrain apps and head northwest to the burn scar from last year’s Meeker fire [Read more about that fire  in Sunday Scaries Volume 182, published August 17, 2025.]

You didn’t know there’s a type of mushroom called a burn morel, did you?

🌧️ Well Jim does, and here’s what our very wet, very short, wildly over-prepared yet underprepared mushroom hunt taught me about the week ahead.

1. Prepare Like You Mean it

Jim didn’t just decide to go mushroom hunting; he pored over topographic apps to find public land in a burn scar where elusive burn morels only grow for two to three years post-wildfire.

He packed a drone so he could do aerial flyovers and map hiking routes from lower elevations, so we could take more informed hiking routes.

No, I am not kidding you. This is next-level foraging. It’s also the energy most of us bring to about zero of our Monday mornings. 😂

💡 Lesson: The people who find the rare stuff put in the work before they even leave the house.

2. You Can’t Time Everything Perfectly

Burn morels need specific conditions: the right fire history, the right soil temps, a little precipitation, a certain window of time in the spring just after snow melt.

Jim waited and watched and decided last week was the moment, especially after seeing a Facebook post from some dude who supposedly found a burn morel in the area.

His obsession really does know no bounds.

However, the sky apparently disagreed and opened up with high winds and downpours the second we arrived at the first pull-off.

No drone flying for Jim. 😩

💡 Lesson: Timing matters, but that doesn’t mean it’s always within our control.

3. Know Your Hazards Before You Commit

Here’s the thing about burn scars that’s easy to forget when you’re excitedly loading a drone into the car: they’re actually kind of dangerous in the rain.

Flash floods. High winds. Burned trees snapping off overhead.

Don’t worry Mom, we survived.

🚙However, our 2.5-hours of round-trip driving resulted in approximately 14 minutes of walking.

Needless to say, I did not hit my step goal for the day.

💡Lesson: Retreat isn’t failure; sometimes it’s the only move to make.

4. Overprepare for the Mission, Not the Conditions

Jim had the drone. He had the maps. He had the plan dialed. What he did not have: an extra layer, or a raincoat. 🤪

We do this in work and life all the time — we prepare for the version of the situation we want, not the one we might actually walk into, even if the radar told us there was some moisture on the way.

💡 Lesson: Prepare for the conditions, not just the plan (or the season)!. 

5. There’s Always Something to Take Home

While Steve’s exercise quota was not even nearly met for the day yesterday (understatement), he was the winner of the trip.

Not deterred by the rain, the wind, the burnt landscape, or the complete absence of mushrooms, he sniffed every inch of that new terrain with full commitment.

🦌 He also found an antler to bring home.

We may not have found what we came for but he had the best 14 minutes of his week.

💡Lesson: Even a skunked trip will leave something in your pocket, if you’re paying attention.

6. Not Every Trip Is About the Outcome

We came home with zero morels.

(I am not shocked 😆).

But that doesn’t mean we came home with nothing (…but an antler).

Jim now has a more solid read on the terrain, a better sense of where to search when he goes back, and at least we got out and about for the day.

Oh, and I got a story for the Sunday Scaries 😁

Jim will absolutely go back out there to put his newfound intel to good use. Me, not so much, but we both know the mushrooms are out there.

Let’s just hope the next opportunity lands them.

💡Lesson: Failure loosely translated is learning experience…and this certainly was one!  

7. Show Up for the Things You Love, Even When They Don’t Love You Back

Morel season in Colorado is short and moody and will absolutely stand you up, as is evidenced by the approximately 12 mushrooms Jim has found in the past 15 years – combined.

While we have nailed chanterelle and boletus (porcini) seasons with bounty harvest, Jim continues to show up for morels every year.

Why? Because he loves the thrill of the chase, and eventually, it’ll deliver.

That’s true for a lot of things: leadership, creative projects, hard conversations, relationships, businesses. Consistency in the face of the unknown is its own kind of skill.

💡Lesson: The thing that keeps not working out is not necessarily the thing you should stop doing.

Here’s hoping your week delivers exactly what you came for. If it doesn’t, may you at least come home with a good story – and an antler. 🍄

Your Friend and Coach,
Angie