THE MUSHROOM MUSEUM

August 30, 2021

I Spent the past week in New Hampshire, climbing the amazing White Mountains. It offered many opportunities to look beyond myself.  As I hiked upward I thought of so many things, aside from the body aches.  It allowed me to reflect, think forward and realize how the littlest things make my imagination wander.

As I hiked up Sugarloaf and Osceola mountains, beneath my feet I repeatedly saw these sweet mushrooms peeking out from under crevices.  The fungi caused me to imagine stories kids might create about the tiny mushrooms villages under  moss filled mini caves.  Oh the fairies that could visit these places or even miniature gnomes for that matter!  

I am not a mycologist by any means but I am attracted to the silky smoothness of the white shelf mushrooms, the perfectly formed elongated milk chocolate colored  caps and the bright yellow fungi which call out, “look at me!”  I leave them all alone, not touching one. Just observing.  It’s  like a living museum of mushrooms. Living organisms in numerous shapes, sizes, textures and colors. All these factors providing entertainment for my vibrant mind. 

What a joy to travel through the woods where the fungi dwell. I wondered, as I met seven and nine year old kids scurrying up the mountainsides with their families, did they spot the interesting shapes, and hiding spots of these spongy creations?   These squishy toadstools of the woods are an invitation to create stories, question their being, entice drawing ideas, list keeping, and most of  all cherishing the wonder of the natural world.

Take a hike in the woods and see what you can find from the trails edge.  Just make sure you leave the mushrooms where they live so they can keep on doing what they are supposed to do. (Do you know what that is?)

I would love to hear about your experiences.   Sue