about the size of a soccer ball, in our backyard.
I placed the apple and pears alongside for scale,
only to be queried by my son Sam: "How do I know
those aren't just miniature apples and pears?" Haha!
Searching not for a Halloween scare,
but merely for further information concerning
the Calvatia_gigantea,
I nearly jumped out of my skin when I googled
Wikipedia and this creepy face suddenly appeared
on my laptop, leering eerily amongst the puffballs.
"How do we know that isn't just a shrunken head?!"
"Wow! That takes scale to another level!"
"Or consider just the mushroom family,
rich as that is in tradition and deception. . . ."
~ Shirley Jackson ~
We are surrounded by the mystery and miracle of mushrooms!
Last month, my friend Beata sent an update of the
late summer adventures that she was having near Warsaw:
"Dear friends,
I’ve been in Poland already five days. . . . This weekend we went to visit friends who live in Gostynin. This small village, located in the Mazowsze Region, is known for a wonderful fresh microclimate created by pine forestry. We went mushroom hunting today, and I include photos of our treasure."
"Mushrooms on the porch table,
lit by the afternoon sunshine!"
Elegant and mystical . . .
. . . just like Sylvia Plath's poem!
Notice how the mushrooms speak for themselves:
Mushrooms
Overnight, very
Whitely, discreetly,
Very quietly
Our toes, our noses
Take hold on the loam,
Acquire the air.
Nobody sees us,
Stops us, betrays us;
The small grains make room.
Soft fists insist on
Heaving the needles,
The leafy bedding,
Even the paving.
Our hammers, our rams,
Earless and eyeless,
Perfectly voiceless,
Widen the crannies,
Shoulder through holes. We
Diet on water,
On crumbs of shadow,
Bland-mannered, asking
Little or nothing.
So many of us!
So many of us!
We are shelves, we are
Tables, we are meek,
We are edible,
Nudgers and shovers
In spite of ourselves.
Our kind multiplies:
We shall by morning
Inherit the earth.
Our foot's in the door.
American poet, Sylvia Plath (1932 - 1963)
This, and all mushrooms above
(except for the Giant Puffballs)
photographed by Beata Ribeiro
Poland ~ September 2018
THANKS BEATA!
SEE YOU IN TWO WEEKS ON MY
Next Fortnightly Post
Wednesday, November 14th
Between now and then, read
THE QUOTIDIAN KIT
my shorter, almost daily blog posts
www.dailykitticarriker.blogspot.com
Looking for a good book? Try
KITTI'S LIST
my running list of recent reading
www.kittislist.blogspot.com
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