The Quiet Hunt

"Russians are very fond of mushrooms of all kinds and picking/gathering them is known as “The Quiet Hunt.” (from Archangel Michael's FB page)

This "quiet hunt" has been my newest Covid escapism. I pack up my little fellow hunter in the car and we head off to the forest. Usually people are far and few so social distancing is an afterthought in such expanse. The pine scented air opens our lungs as soon as we disembark the car. Everything is slow in the woods. Everything is quiet. And in the quiet we find small hidden things, like mushrooms and pinecones, butterflies and our imaginations too.

Unlike the over-peopled playgrounds the forest awakens an introspection that deepens in the quiet. There are no pre-made activities; instead of slides, hills to run down; instead of play structures, tree trunks to climb on and jump over. Sticks become pirate swords, hiking sticks, building blocks, and more.

We come away from the woods refreshed.

With peace to meet the rest of the day, the rest of the week.

Much of the interval between trips is filled with busyness, hybrid school schedules, construction noise, and family life. Mushroom identification books dot the house where in my spare time (ha!) I pour through them assiduously.

There are still things to learn.

Still things to enjoy and

Many, many good things to look forward to.

Indian Pipes, not a mushroom but a plant without any chlorophyll. These are old and browning but when they are young they are white or pale pink.

A mushroom infected with another fungus, Hypomyces. 

Birch Polypore, Fomitopsis Betulina

Suillus Americanus, aka American Slippery Jack.

Underside of American Slippery Jack

American Slippery Jack

Coker's Lavender Staining Amanita

Lavender Amanita's cap

 

Corals

Grey Knights, aka Dirty Tricholoma

A solitary Grey Knight

Another Knight

We found a Monarch butterfly, which we named Kelpie.

Red Russula

Bitter Bolete

Bitter Bolete