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Sunday, November 13, 2011

Finally the day comes,

I am generally a very observant person. Somehow though, my husband tends to spot what I overlook. Like that Hekate plaque in a cluttered antique shop window.

Today after grocery shopping we walked down the side of a street we never usually walk down, he exclaimed, "MUSHROOMS!" ... and indeed there was mushrooms. A HUGE patch of fly agaric - beneath well manicured beech trees in an industrial warehouse area. Who would have thought? I keep a constant eye out for the buggers and have several trees I check on a regular basis around this time of year. I've had so many dreams of finding them (an old women usually being around, encouraging me to pick them) and they always felt just within my grasp but I've never found any, until now! It's also interesting, because that is the same area I've seen ravens most frequently.

mushroomsmagic

I only plucked two. They're not even for me, they're for the spirits. I have a personal bag of nicely dried Washington caps that I got from BBB. These'll have to be well hidden from a certain cat who freaks the fuck out over fly agaric. I've known him get places no cat should, or COULD get to and bust into the bag to have a snack*. Then you wake up to find your crack head cat with dilated pupils pinging off the wall, your bag of mushrooms scattered all over the house and half chewed on. Other mushrooms? He doesn't care for them, it's just these! Right now he is mewing like mad, I think he can smell them.

I am very thankful that they crossed my path - and that my husband was there to spot them!


(*Note: I do not actively encourage my cat to eat fly agaric. It happened once. The bag was kept on TOP of a 7 foot shelf with no other way for him to get to the top. He literally climbed the shelving, opened a container and ran away with the bag! (Being a crafty bastard he did it while we were sleeping) There is no stopping a cat that determined. Lesson learned, they're now in a very sealed up and cat proof drawer.)

3 comments:

  1. lmfao

    Omg... that is one seriously intent cat. Holy crap.

    I'm seriously jealous of all the mushrooms I've been seeing in my blogroll lately. Seriously. I need to take myself out looking for mushrooms, I guess.

    They are beautiful. Good find.

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  2. What a lucky find! I love finding ancient, sacred entheogens growing amidst a modern city, it's such a great juxtaposition.

    The amanitas haven't come up yet this year in either of my normal spots, and I've yet to find a new one, but I keep looking (just made a foray yesterday, in fact - hoping for some good rain this week to help spur on the process). While I too have a stash from BBB, I'd rather use the local stuff.

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  3. @somefromthetemple - I am very lucky to live in a mushroom loving climate (Pacific Northwest)! Good trees to keep an eye out on are beech, birch and pines.

    @forestdoor - It was such a treat, no, a gift to see them!

    I second the locally found mushrooms. If I could, it would be all that I use. Maybe I need to expand my searching efforts! I'm going back again today to see if I might be able to collect some for myself.

    I wish you luck on your search! There really is something special about seeing them in our landscape, calling to us with their lovely vermilion caps.

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