Monday, July 20, 2009

'Shroom garden























We've had a few cool, clear days here, very unusual for July. The low temperatures keep the irksome bugs quiet, but the spiders still build their webs every night. The heavy dew and the light of the rising sun make jewels of their intricate death traps. A thin mist lingers among the trees in the early morning, and the birds are much noisier than they usually are in the heat of late summer.

All these little shifts from routine give the woods a hint of enchantment, a promise of the unexpected, so I was delighted but not surprised to come across a beautiful fungus bloom this morning. It had popped up under a tree not far from the road, out in the open as if it were a perfectly ordinary thing. My photos, as usual, don't do it justice.

7 comments:

chayaruchama said...

This is a remarkable thing of great beauty !
I love fungi, myself;)

what a stolen pleasure to finally catch up w/ you, yesterday....

Sois beni !

BitterGrace said...

FWIW, that 'shroom is called "Chicken of the Woods" and is supposedly very good to eat. I think it's too pretty for munching.

It was wonderful to talk yesterday. I'll make it to Boston yet, and we can dispense with the mediating technologies.

Anonymous said...

It looks like a little universe in itself, so perfect...
Nika

TMC said...

Those are awesome! Such a beautiful colour and so BIG!

BitterGrace said...

They're holding up very well, too. They were still there today.

Suzanne said...

Hi BitterGrace,

I can confirm that this "Chicken of the Woods" (also known in less prettier terms as "sulphur shelf") is indeed delicious! I'm no mushroom expert, but a young man that my husband works with has been taking us out on mushroom walks, and we harvested quite a large sulphur shelf, sliced it up thinly and sauteed it in butter, then served it with pasta. Awesome!

It's like a big beautiful flower, isn't it? Loved your photos.

BitterGrace said...

Hi, Suzanne. It's nice to hear from you. Now I'm a little sorry I didn't harvest one of those mushrooms for myself. Your dish sounds wonderful. At least the deer had a feast.