Never too early to get geared up for the Mushroom Festival

     I was kind in the dumps today when I ran across a couple of photos from the Mushroom Festival, Richmond, Missouri's tribute to, well, morel mushrooms, big beards, tacky sunglasses and a 3 1/2-hour procession of Shriner's parade vehicles. I exaggerate, of course, but the fella above just inspires that kind of excess.

     There's some argument over Richmond actually being THE Mushroom Capital of the World, but no one really takes that stuff seriously. I mean, it could just as well be the Bob Ford Capital of the World and the festival would feature cowardly impersonators sneakin' up behind Jesse James and pumpin' him dead while he dusts a picture of a racehorse. 

     After listening to the complete audio book "The Assassination of Jesse James by that Coward Robert Ford," I've come to the conclusion that Jesse a) wanted to die; b) wanted to see exactly how much of a coward Bob was. Either way, he got what he wanted, however briefly. That's Bob's picture with the gun he used to shoot Jesse day-ed (the gun was said to be a gift from JJ).

     For the complete audio-visual-verbal blogging experience, click on the link below to hear Robber's Cave, my mostly fictional song about how Robert Ford witnessed the James Gang's 1867 bank robbery in Richmond. To hear tell it, this is where the 6-year-old Ford began to idolize Jesse and learned all about Robber's Cave, a real place, from his momma.

     This, of course, was well before the Mushroom Capital of the World was named and the the Mushroom Festivals began, but not before the first morel sprouted in Ray County. That predates about everything, including Adam and Eve.
     
     Link to Robber's Cave, by David Knopf