adam gansonMushroom Paths of The Forest: Revisited
Late spring and warm weather are having their affect on the forest and its communities and ecosystem. It seems like a perfect time of year to revisit my mushroom paths of the Forest. Going into the forest this time of year is like being surrounded by a warm humid green glow. Everytime I go out, I scan the forest floor and trees, looking for anything that stands out as unique. Not everything that my brain tricks me into seeing is actually unique. Then there are the times where the uniqueness leaps out at me, surprising and exciting my senses.
As I descend into a gorge, everything changes, the air surrounds me and thickens, the plant life changes from broad tall trees to small ferns and moss. The green transforms into a deep and lively color. A salamander crawls across the forest floor.
There is a quiet in the forest that is loud. It's really not quiet, rather a change in sounds from the activities of people everywhere, to the sounds of wind and plants, small creatures and their silent footsteps, and a brook flowing with in an eternal manner, constant flow. As I make my way deeper, I encounter time and again fungus that holds the entire structure unseen and with an epoch timeframe.
Then there are the encounters that are so magnificent, that nature has given a slight glimpse into a world not of our own. These are often the overlooked and the discounted. The angle in your peripheral vision that made you imagine was there watching you. Rather it was the angle, the shade of green and natural instinct picking out the patterns natural and imagined.
Then there is the crown of the forest. The feature that everyone comes into to spectate and admire. The graceful rock formations and the result of the big forces at work, tectonic plates, erosion, time. These attract us like magnets and give us a good reason to find ourselves in the natural environs.
I save my favorites for the last of the images to be shared in this mushroom path blog. These are the ones that make me jump for joy and exclaim in excitement, if I am alone in these settings or not. The following two photos are Ganoderma species mushroom "Reishi" medicinal mushroom and "Crown Tipped Coral" Artomyces Pyxidatus. These are so much fun to find because they demand attention and they demand presence. This is my favorite type of encounter with the natural world.
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