Tracy laughed as she told Lester. "Ha, I don't give a shit if it's illegal, I'm not going to stop enjoying my life just because our government is so fucking hell-bent on controlling all of us with their bullshit nanny state laws."
"Settle down there turbo, I didn't mean to get you all twisted over this, I just think you need to be really careful when you go out picking wild mushrooms."
"I don't go out picking, I have a friend who grows them, and I'm not going to stop enjoying tripping occasionally and microdosing. Who the fuck has the right to tell me I can't do something that humans have been doing for hundreds of years, maybe thousands. The pharmaceutical companies lobby to keep the human race from using natural medicines so they can profit with their synthesized copies of the same things. When recent research clearly shows that mushrooms are good for us. Did you know that DNA shows that mushrooms are more closely related to humans than they are plants?"
Lester took a deep breath and exhaled with a whistle. Tracy obviously was just getting warmed up on the subject at hand. "No, I didn't know that." He confessed.
"Well they are! You should research it, Just Google John Hopkins university mushrooms, or psilocybin research for depression or post traumatic stress disorder, the list goes on and on. Personally, I would probably be dead if my uncle hadn't turned me on to them a few years ago."
"Why would you be dead?" Lester's curiosity starting to get the better of him.
"Depression, It's a long story, let's save it for another time. Besides that, I need to get back home and check in with work." Joking, she said, "To tell the truth, I don't mind all this social distancing stuff, I've been doing it for years." Tracy giggled, stood up and kissed Lester on the cheek. "Come by later, I'll make dinner, Sixish."
She turned and walked away without waiting for him to reply.
Lester had walked two miles to have a sack lunch in the park with Tracy. Having lost his job, due to the company that they both worked for downsizing because of the Rona thing. It felt good to go for long walks outside. Not to mention he and Tracy had become good friends while working together.
Lester walked slowly down the bicycle path while reading on his phone. He got so engrossed reading about the research that he had to stop a couple of times to just sit and read. Once on a bench at a bus stop that no longer had any buses stopping there, and once on a big rock about the size of his kitchen table that was part of the landscape in front of a restaurant with a sign on the door that read, "Closed, probably forever!"
Tracy logged into the company server. She hadn't received any more orders to process or clients to bill. She left her computer on and went to her refrigerator to get a Nutty-Buddy. Thinking about Lester, she pulled a package of frozen shrimp from the freezer. "I'll make stir fry!" She mumbled to herself.
Lester spent most of the afternoon laying on his couch reading about psilocybin mushrooms. He had no idea there was so much ongoing research at so many different universities. He literally spent four hours reading and watching Ted Talks videos on the subject. It all began to make sense. The laws obviously needed to change. His concerns for Tracy's wellbeing were obviously out of ignorance. He remembered something his junior high art teacher had said years ago, "There is a big difference between being stupid and being uneducated!" Tracy shook about half the shrimp out of the bag into a bowl and stuffed the rest back in the freezer. She filled the bowl with water and stood biting small chunks of chocolate and peanuts off the icecream cone while watching the ice melt off the shrimp. She rinsed them off and put them in the refrigerator to thaw.
Around five thirty she heard the familiar sound of her uncle Fred's motorcycle. Fred had taken care of her after loosing both her parents in a car accident. Fred had put her through college and made sure she always had a place to come home to. At 67 years old he was still riding the same old 1956 Harley panhead that he had bought from his uncle. It made her smile when she heard him cussing at the neighbors cat that seemed to always be curled up in front of her door. "Get out of here you mangy son-of-a-bitch!" He greeted her with a hug and "Hi pumpkin, I was in the neighborhood and thought I'd drop by and see how the hell yer doing."
"I'm doing okay, was making dinner for a friend. Please tell me you have time to join us." She hugged him and kissed his cheek.
"Oh, I don't want to intrude, was just out for a ride. But whatever your cooking smells good! I'll take you up on the offer."
She chuckled to herself, knowing all it would take was a cold beer and a comfortable seat to keep him there. She was delighted to see him.
"You want to know how to get rid of that mangy cat?" Not giving her time to tell him that the cat didn't bother her. "Just get one of them nerf balls, cut it up in little pieces and soak em in gravy, wrap a string around em until there about the size of a green pea. Put em in the freezer until they are frozen solid. Cut the string off and toss a couple of em out on the porch. That mangy cat will swallow em. They swell up after they thaw out. Can't pass em!"
"Fred! Good lord, that's just horrible!"
"Well that mangy cats horrible!"
He looked over the top of his beer bottle as he sipped it. Obviously grinning and joking.
A few minutes later Lester knocked on the door. Tracy hollered, "Come on in." She heard the familiar squeak of the hinges on the front door. It made her laugh when Fred hollered, "Don't let that mangy cat in!"
Tracy introduced Lester and Fred. Fred stood up to shake hands. Tracy handed Lester a beer and sat another one on the table for her uncle.
Lester asked. "Is that your motorcycle out front?"
