Tag: mushrooms in Portland

Mushrooms of the Dead

Dear Liza,

With a nice damp Fall, mushrooms are doing very well here in Portland.

Today, I walked around Lone Fir Cemetery. The leaves, the dead, and the damp combine to create some real beauties.

I am not an expert in fungi and don’t know the names of any of these. The only thing I know about wild mushrooms is to NOT eat them…. Unless you are properly trained.

But I am not shy about getting down on my tummy to take some close-ups! Aren’t these beautiful?

Someone picked this mushroom before I got there, and laid it on top of a grave stone.

This batch of tissue- thin mushrooms was surrounded by quite a busy swarm of gnats, so I decided I was about done, took my picture quickly and headed off.

Thanks, Dead People!

Love,

Grandma Judy

A ‘Shroom with a View

Dear Liza,

I love the forest in Fall! Besides the beautiful colors, the fermenting leaves give of a sweet, almost beer-like smell. Well, part beer, part bread… and all good.

Auntie Bridgett and I walked out the other day, with jackets on over sweaters, to enjoy the season.

Mushrooms are popping up as the heavy drizzles encourage them, looking like fairy creatures. Getting right down in the ground is bad for my knees, but good for my pictures!

Fallen trees become mountains of moss, with fairy cities of shelf fungus perched on their sides.

We discovered this amazing fungus in someone’s lawn by the park. It sure looks like the Death Star to me!

Even ordinary trees get a soft, starry green upholstery as the dormant moss wakes up in the rain.

I know the grey weather will become commonplace soon. But for now, I will marvel in the changing seasons.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Tiny Beauties

Dear Liza,

As well as cleaning up and tucking in my own plot for the winter, I had a few hours of service gardening to do at the Blair Community Garden. This is how the garden is kept in good repair; everyone does a few hours here and there.

My back has been sore from too much lifting of wheelbarrows, so today I sat right down to pull weeds. And, as so often happens, I found beauty I hadn’t expected.

This tiny mushroom was perched in the middle of the path. I didn’t pull it, because it’s not a weed. I just admired it.

These statice flowers are small, and the dew drops on them are even smaller! How pretty is this?

These spurge plants, lovely as they are when sparkled with dew, had to get pulled. They will just get bigger over our warm-ish, wet winter.

After half an hour of weed pulling and picture taking, I was wet, muddy, and ready to head home. I still have a half an hour before my service hours are fulfilled, but not today.

Love,

Grandma Judy