mushrooms

The mushroom season apparently begins immediately after Halloween. The next morning they had sprouted everywhere. Along my short walk to work there are trails of mushrooms varying in size from my smallest fingertip to a dinner plate. The caps vary in texture from fibrous and leafy to spongecake. Some are flat and some are domed and some are even concave. Some are round and some are irregular organic shapes. Colours range from beige, tan, chocolate, to tangerine through scarlet. Some form randomly and some in little fairy trails. Some I recognize from childhood hikes with my naturalist aunt, but most are foreign to me. I don't recall mushrooms in Ontario looking like the illustrations in children's fairytale books. I'd would like to know more. An industrious colleague goes on mushroom gathering walks to make gourmet meals. Less innocent friends know how to gather them for other purposes. Are they dangerous? Do I have to watch where I walk least I track psychotropic chemicals on my shoes? By 6:00 pm when I walk home, it is quite dark. There are no streetlights here, except at intersections. I carry little turtle-shaped LEDs, but that's really not sufficient. I'll have to get the BIG flash light out already. Mainly I worry about falling in the ditch or turning my ankle.

Today I went swimming before work and began to tackle the gravity data. Maybe as a treat for ceasing to procrastinate on both issues, I'll go home early. :) If I'm lucky, the awaited Halloween package will finally be there.