All mushrooms are edible; but some only once. - Croatian proverb
The weather is turning and I am trying to keep finding my motivation to go out in the chill and blustery... Motivation is... somewhat reduced. But I do try to take the opportunity to take smaller more frequent excursions, whether it's intentionally scheduling a mtg in a different building, or just walking with someone ostensibly to discuss some matter at hand... that could probably wait, but walk... :D
It was on one of these such excursions that I extended, that I found fabulous mushrooms this week! It looks like one of the ones in the top right corner had some little critter decide to try it... and then decide to leave the rest. The one on the left looks like broccoli left in the fridge waaaaaay too long!
The ones in the bottom right were just adorable. I liked the orange that evolves into the more pale color. And they're just such a nice *mushroom-y* shape. I want to hug them!
For some reason, I'm not entirely sure why, thinking about mushrooms has also led me to think about Baba Yaga and her house with chicken feet. I mean - to be fair, there have been several posts on my facebook feed that have talked about Baba Yaga and her house with chicken feet, but still. They all sort of go together. Much like Baba Yaga who can be both a hero and a villain, sometimes even in the same story, as capricious as she wants to be, mushrooms can be both good and bad as well. There are some mushrooms that are darn tasty, but they have to be cooked or are extremely poisonous, but the toxins they release while cooking are akin to huffing jet fuel, so you also don't really want to cook them in a space without *great* ventilation! Like -- how did people figure out these tasted good? Other mushrooms are super tasty, but will irreparably destroy your liver the next day/s. Some mushrooms are kind and unassuming, like the common button mushroom and crimini. And the crimini's more mature presentation, the portobello -- it's the same mushroom, but much bigger and literally more matured. Some mushrooms you can eat and then you can't any more and no one's sure when it shifts. And other mushrooms are just really best left where they are because they taste awful. I suppose since they are a kingdom in and of themselves, that's only fair that they'd have a tremendous variability. And we're still discovering all the things they do, and can do. There are some trees that won't live without their symbiotic mushroom. Many mushrooms basically spread information throughout the area they live in to the trees and other plants surrounding them.
So much we still don't even know about mushrooms. And apparently, we're still putting together pieces about Baba Yaga as well!
IN OTHER NEWS - the first version of the Odyssey has been translated by a woman, Emily Wilson. I am so looking forward to reading this new translation. It looks amazing!
With love, all the rain brings (mushrooms), and curiosity,
—Susan