Where Is The Mushroom Fairy??!!!

     I have always been fascinated by mushrooms.  Especially as I reached adulthood, their mystic spirit would draw me in whenever I saw them.  They seem so mysterious.  Springing seemingly from nothingness.  Yes, I know about the spores and that they are fungi.  But I prefer to think of it this way.........in the soil or wood lies the magic fairy dust from which mushrooms must spring. 
     I began to go to them whenever I saw them.  Photograph them. Study them.  So much variety and different personalities, size, shape, structure, color, strength, delicacy and length of life.  Some pop up all by their lonesome, strong and solitary.  Some in clusters, some in playful fairy circles. I often wish that one day I would spot one of those fairies that live underneath the umbrella of one of my favorites. 

The delicate, intricate formation is dreamy.  Dew drops cling to the gills like jewels. 

I still am surprised at where they will pop up.  The above pictured tiny mushrooms were SO TINY!!!  They grew in a pot.  The size of the Pine Straw gives a great size comparison.  And even tinier are the small ones that are just erupting form the soil.

When I happen across a HUGE mushroom it is so fun.  A few years back I found this one. I didn't have my camera with me and I was so worried that by the time my schedule let me get back to it would somehow be gone.  Silly!  This was a very firm, big mushroom with nice color variation that the picture does not translate.  I just had to lay my phone on the top to give size comparison.  I seriously doubted anyone would believe how big it was if I told them.

Some are dressed in the softest fuzzy covering that feels like fabric.  Lined up like an audience, watching the paint peel.

Garden Snails adore this kind when they pop up!  Breakfast Buffet!!!

The smell of most of the mushrooms I find are usually not unlike what you may have in your refrigerator.  A rich and earthy scent that reminds me of many a delicious meal.  But taste them I will not! I'm not enticed by the idea of dying a painful, agonizing death by mushroom poison.  I know many are edible.  But I don't know another person who even cares about a mushroom in a field, to do anything but kick it over.  Much less someone who knows which ones are edible. I will stick to observing.

A bright yellow group like this, most certainly seems like it belongs in Wonderland with Alice and the Mad Hatter.

I rarely go "looking" for these beautiful fungi.  But it seems they call my eyes to see them.  My family waits patiently.  I stoop and look.  Snapping pictures this way and that, showing the character that the mushroom fairy has left for us to enjoy.  Some day.  Some day I will happen upon one of those little fairies under a big umbrella mushroom, maybe brushing her hair or mixing up more fairy mushroom dust.  I just hope that it isn't a fairy that makes the poisonous mushrooms.  I hear those little ladies are dangerously sly indeed.

 

Observing mushrooms when I can is a fun and fanciful hobby for me to enjoy.  Observing nature in general and having an imagination are great stress relievers for me.  We all need relief from the stresses of everyday life.  I think God has created a wonderful delightful escape all around us, that is there whenever we need it.  It is there for the taking.  Find yours.