Mushroom Spotting in the Forest

Spotted more of these mushrooms today

With fall in full swing in Vancouver, meaning lots of precipitation, mushrooms are popping up on lawns and especially in Pacific Spirit Park.

Each time I walk along the trails I see more mushrooms particularly growing on nurse logs, trees that have fallen and still have nutrients.

A vertical growth of fungi

Today I saw some people proudly showing off some big fungi they had picked, but no one should be harvesting any mushrooms from any provincial parks; while some might be edible, some may be poisonous!

Foragers don't like to disclose where they find their mushrooms, but I heard from a Vancouver chef that he finds matsutake mushrooms, as well as porcinis near Penticton and Hope. 

And if you see those big bright red mushrooms that look like they belong in a Super Mario game, don't pick them or eat them! They're definitely toxic!

Beware of Theft on Overnight Flights!

Be sure to lock up baggage in overhead compartments

A friend posted on social media that he and his family were robbed while on an overnight flight. 

Apparently it's not just one person, but several accomplices on the plane, where they wait until the lights are turned down and when the passengers are sleeping, go to the overhead compartments and take the victims' bags into the washroom to take cash, credit cards, or valuable items. Then they put the bags back into the overhead compartments.

In my friend's case, the airline staff witnessed the incident, and the suspect was arrested by airport security, but by that point, the money had already been passed on to someone else and not on the suspect.  

HK has seen a 164% rise in on board theft

The police told my friend that it is a syndicate operating from Macau, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Vietnam.

While my friend made a police report that took three hours, it is only then that the authorities can do something, but the suspect will probably be punished with a three-month sentence.

There has been a 164 percent increase in thefts on board flights to Hong Kong in the first eight months of the year. There were 132 recorded thefts (last year there were 92), and the largest case involved a passenger from Switzerland who lost a HK$4.16 million (US$535,320) watch on August 30.

Items stolen include cash, credit cards, luxury handbags, watches and jewellery. 

"Thieves usually search for and take valuable property such as cash, digital devices and luxury watches from unsecured baggage left unattended on passengers' seats or placed inside the overhead compartments," the Hong Kong Police force's spokesman said. 

Another source said the thieves worked in pairs, taking advantage of dimmed cabin lights and sleeping passengers.

Police advised travellers to be vigilant and keep and eye on their belongings and never leave items unattended. The force also urged passengers to check their belongings before disembarking and promptly report any lost items to flight attendants.

It was brave for my friend to post what happened to him, and warns others to be careful!

Fact of the Day: 2024 Treat Counts

At the start of the Trick-or-Treating last night

How much Halloween candy did you haul last night?

Conversely, how much did you give out?

Some interesting facts -- one media personality reported handing out 1,520 Halloween treats by 7.45pm, while a Simon Fraser University professor showed a picture of a clicker at 137 as the number of people that visited his doorstep.

The neighbourhood that gave out the most candy? 

Douglas Park at a whopping 3,050!

Halloween 2024 Report

An elaborate Halloween display

This year Halloween was... wet.

We started around 5.30pm and soon after it started sprinkling and that soon turned into rain.

Even though the kids complained about the precipitation, they were still very keen about getting candy. Lots of it.

Free hugs? Yikes!

One house handed out cans of soda, another a full-size box of Smarties. Most handed out chocolates by hand, one or two with a chute, and some just left a box on the front porch with a sign instructing children to take one each. The kids' bags got heavy quite fast, but they were reluctant to relinquish their bags of candy to their parents.

Some of the houses had fantastic decorations, lots of web-like cotton spread over shrubs, graves half opened with feet or hands sticking out, lots of skeletons hanging about. There was even one made of plastic milk jugs. So clever!

One had a pumpkin carved with a gerbil or hamster, while another had three intricately-carved gourds, one with a Celtic weave, an owl and a heart. "They did a lot of work," my nephew remarked about their pumpkins.

The other nephew is terrified of scary noises and refused to go to the houses that had eerie sounds coming out of them. But he would happily go to the other ones "that aren't scary". 

At one point we found shelter at a church that had police managing traffic at the intersection. We got some piping hot chocolate, and the kids got more candy and played with friends. There were other refreshments like hot dogs, mandarin oranges, tea, coffee, apples and popcorn.

Intricately carved owl pumpkin

While the kids played, some parents sat on folding chairs staring at their phones, while others chit chatted amongst themselves. It was a nice respite from the rain before we headed out again.

Amazingly the kids lasted for just over two hours and still keen on collecting more candy when we almost got home. One house had two skeletons dressed up looking out the window...