Ever helpful as my first reader and assuming I can turn out a blog on any subject, Al called me outside to see his discovery that had popped up overnight. “Can you write a blog about mushrooms?” he asked. It sounded like a challenge to me.
My first reaction as I looked at the tall white umbrella with sprinkles on top was that it looked more like a setting for a rest station for a fairy tale gnome on a long trek or a dance floor for a fairy festival on top rather than the more mundane topics I usually cover in a blog. A couple of others that looked more commonplace had popped up nearby, but this was the one that captured my attention.
With a bit of research, I could see that the humdrum reason for the phenomenon came from our weather for the past week that would have seemed familiar to Noah. They pop up when the ground is saturated. Online pictures of Mississippi mushrooms come in an unusual and beautiful array, and instructions were available on how to grow your own – one DIY that I will skip. Experts seemed evenly divided in importance with those who recommended wild mushrooms to eat over those bought in the store and those who gave dire warnings against eating the poisonous ones that caused acute stomach problems with severe vomiting at best and death at worst. I’ll just buy mine in the store, thank you.
As much as I like to learn new things, I relegated all this useful information to a back corner of my mind and began to picture something entirely different. What if after-hours in the light of the moon, the gnome arrives and seats himself in the shelter of the mushroom? What if he removes his tiny jug of apple cider and his teeny book from his knapsack and leans against the long stem of the mushroom to read while listening to the music as the fairies dance to the “Waltz of the Flowers” on the sparkly mushroom top?
Whether you lean toward facts or fantasy, I think you will agree that I’ve written a blog about mushrooms.