It's Raining Mushrooms

      I've never seen so many mushrooms. Well, I guess I've never seen it rain this much in one summer either. Usually the rains come in April. It rains the whole month and then the rest of the summer is really hot. Not this year. Mushrooms were constantly popping up everywhere. I enjoyed photographing them. They came in all shapes, sizes and colors. Some were clean and many were dirty.

      I don't know all the names of the mushrooms I photographed. I have tried to look up a few of them, mainly to see if they were common in this area and whether they were poisonous or not. Some people eat mushrooms but they are experts and know which ones are edible and which ones are not. There are poisonous mushrooms that look like nonpoisonous ones. I'm not taking any chances. I'm no expert and anyway I don't think I would like to eat a mushroom because of its texture.

     There are mushrooms clubs or societies whose members enjoy going out and searching for different mushrooms.
Days after I took pictures of the mushrooms I decided to see how many I could gather.

     I was quite surprised that I found as many as I did. I put on my gloves and pulled them out of the ground like you are supposed to. In doing my research I found that there are some mushrooms with anti-cancer properties. I think I will just stick to taking pictures of them and knowing that they are here on earth for some reason. Everything has a purpose whether is it small, tall, clean, dirty, ugly, or pretty. Even fungi have a purpose!

                                        

Pictured below are my mushroom finds. I think it would be fun to join a mycological society to learn all about mushrooms. Maybe one day...

Do you like mushrooms? Do you have a favorite one? Have you ever eaten a wild one and if not, would you consider eating one if you knew it was safe? 

Nature's Rarest Color

    While weedeating, I saw the prettiest little flower. It's one of those flowers one might possibly step on. It was growing very low to the ground among the weeds. I accidentally ran the weedeater over another flower that I had wanted to take a picture of, so I told myself that after I finished I would get my camera and take a photo of this two-petalled summer surprise. At first, I thought some petals were missing, but a closer look at all the others nearby revealed that was not true.

    I remembered my son had showed me an unusual mushroom the day before. I had done some research on it and discovered that its underneath part was more vibrant than the top. It was so close to the ground that I couldn't see its opposite side so after taking the flower picture, I grabbed a plastic knife and went to where I thought it was located. Luckily it was still there and I started cutting it from its base. I pushed it over and saw what I was hoping for. Immediately after the cut some blue ink-like substance slowly dripped around its base and I snapped a few shots. Funny, I felt a little remorse concerning this fungus.
 

 

 

 

    In the evening, before I was to join others for a walk around the park, I looked out to see a bird that had become a familiar sight. I grabbed my camera and got a shot as close as I could without scaring it away.

 

 

 

 

I received a wonderful blessing. Blue is one of my favorite colors!