Decent: When it morel season, the thrill of the hunt is half the fun for mushroom lovers

Not all hunter-gatherers are on the lookout for bears or birds; some seek mushrooms. Spring brings the arrival of morels, the spongy looking fungi that mostly grow beside dead elm trees. Much like truffles, you have to forage to find them and chefs use them to enhance their dishes at significant cost to the consumer. You can spend upwards of $15 for just one ounce of a dried version online.

McGrath: Remembering back to that Easter week that could have changed lives if not for one heroic act

Our bond was alphabetical: Miller, Messerich, McGrath. As high school sophomores at St. Joseph’s Franciscan Seminary in Westmont, we lined up together in class, sat in the same church pew and at the same cafeteria table, and slept in the same row of dormitory bunks.

Vickroy: Viewing a total solar eclipse is a once-in-a-lifetime experience — and so is the long, crowded drive home

There’s a dark side to viewing a solar eclipse along the line of totality. The light-years drive home.
A record number of Americans viewed the Great American Eclipse of 2017, when the swath of totality cut through southern Illinois. Granted, not all of the 154 million adults who watched it were with us on Interstate 57 later that afternoon, but, wow, it sure seemed like it.