Perhaps I'll Dye Naturally

Day 302: We finally had a day this summer which fell into my classification of "perfect for hiking,"  i.e., mid-60s and cloudy with no chance of a shower. Once again, I chose a trail close to home, but had no particular destination in mind although I was sure one would suggest itself before I'd gone very far. I wasn't planning to be out more than an hour or two, not with a new project on the loom begging for my attention, so I packed light: water bottle, some Cheezits, toilet paper, a rain jacket just in case the weather forecase was wrong, and my trusty camera. I did not think about it being August, did not think to include the "perhaps bag" (avoska) which qualifies as the 11th Essential for autumn hikes. About a mile in, I spotted the first Lobster. "Oh!" I said aloud. "Perhaps I can dye naturally," speaking, of course, in reference to my handspun yarn. Although many people disagree with me, I don't consider Lobsters desirable for the table. However, as previously noted, I had not brought a perhaps bag, so I passed Lobster #1 by. In another tenth of a mile or so, I came across six or seven more, some a bit past prime. And then a quarter mile further in, I spotted another really nice one. This was a bit more than I could be expected to ignore even temporarily, so I dumped my TP out of its baggie and popped the Lobster inside, thinking I'd have plenty of room for the others I'd seen and planned to collect on the way back. And that was it. There were no more Lobsters to be seen when I arrived at "halfway" and reversed my course. When I got back to the site of the half dozen, I brushed the soil and forest debris off one and pulled it up. It was much bigger than I'd expected, and wouldn't fit in the bag with the first one I'd collected. Now committed to a course of action, I decided my light rain jacket would have to stand in as a perhaps bag. By the time I finished harvesting from that patch, my daypack was half full! Because I knew there were no others beyond the first one I'd seen when I began my hike, I veered off onto a spur trail to get back to the parking area, and lo and behold, I found half a dozen more. At this point, I'd stuffed my pack to the point that I could barely close the zipper (the photo shows about half my haul). When I got home, I pared off the orange outer layer (the parasitic Hypomyces lactifluorum which is the dyeing agent) and discarded the remains of the host Russulas beneath the big Doug-fir in my front yard where they're welcome to proliferate. Then I stuck the parings in the dehydrator for four hours at 130 degrees for a yield of roughly a pint of loosely packed dyestuff. I'll need a lot more before I can even dye a 1-ounce skein of wool, but Lobsters are plentiful locally. And next time I'm out, I'll have a perhaps bag with me.