Mushrooms In The Rain

It’s been a while since I walked in the woods.  Late July and all of August were full of hot, buggy days.  I chose to swim in the Battenkill over walking.  But today it’s cool and rainy.  The bugs were still out, but nothing a hat on my head couldn’t handle.

Even though we’ve gotten a good amount of rain this summer, it wasn’t as much as last year.  So I wondered if I’d see any mushrooms.

I wasn’t disappointed.  Some of them looked as if they’d been growing for a while.

While others were just emerging.

The salamanders were out too.  So many of them were near or under mushrooms. I couldn’t help thinking they were staying dry under the natural umbrellas.  But of course, it’s the rain that makes the salamanders come out. Their skin is porous and they need the moisture so they don’t dry out.

Some of the mushrooms were the size of a dinner plate growing on the stump of a toppled tree.

And some were tiny and growing out of bark surrounded by moss,  making the tree trunk look like a fairyland.

Not all stood up straight and perfect.  Some had been toppled and eaten by animals and insects.  I’m not sure if I interrupted the cricket eating this mushroom or if they were just passing by.

This mushroom pushed through the pine needles shiny with rain, its orange center a juicy beacon or bullseye.

It was impossible not to notice the brightly colored mushrooms.  I imagine also, the most poisonous.

But the softer colors caught my attention too.  Sometimes because of their subtle markings, their shape, how they looked in their surroundings….

…or their texture.

These were only some of the mushrooms I saw on our walk in the woods today.  Once again, I was inspired by them, thinking I’d like to recreate them in my studio somehow.  I though the same last year, but it never happened.

Maybe it will this year.