A Walk in the Woods: Circular Gestures

Today was another of those cool, gray days which we've seen so many of in June. I felt myself sinking into a gloom like the dim light of the day. To cheer myself, before the rain arrived I took a walk with my camera on my alternate woods path, an infrequently wandered one because it's a logging road, so less intimate than my usual walk. Because it isn't familiar to me so far this season, there are many new treasures to find. Looking closely around me, at the ground, through the underbrush, and focusing my camera on ordinary marvels takes me out of myself and elevates my spirits.

The most wonderful thing I saw was this huge mushroom, at least a foot across, a polypore growing on an elegantly curled tree stump. Both looked as though carefully sculpted to express the rhythms of curving forms, with the textures used to play one element off against the other. The mushroom flows gently into the wood, with both having dark centers that draw our eye deep.




Here is the underside, showing large yellow pores, plus a couple of smaller mushrooms growing. When close to it, I noticed a pleasant scent, not mushroomy at all, light and slightly sweet. I always try to find mushroom identities in my guide at home, but am rarely successful. This time I may have found it: polyporus squamosus or Dryad's Saddle, also known as Pheasant's Back Polypore. The book lists it as edible, and that the "tender edges of the caps can be pickled, sauteed, or fried". But since I'm not sure, I will just admire; also, mushrooms not listed as "choice" edibles are often not worth picking.




I am charmed by this toadstool; seeing it, the childlike name for mushroom took over my thoughts. A three inch umbrella with crimped dangling skirt and radiating lines on its cap, it seems ready to pick up and take a walk while sheltering a small creature beneath.




I found this jelly-like cup shaped mushroom growing alongside a tiny stalked one, both on a downed tree covered with a pale yellow mat of lichen slime mold. A comfortable seat with shade for a miniature potentate of the woods, perhaps?




To end this post, some green: a fern growing in a clear form, stems radiating perfectly from a center, creating an arching circular vase structured by textured fronds. A circle, even in its imperfect incarnations in nature, is deeply satisfying and beautiful to see.