Toadstools

One morning, years ago,

my daughter and I looked out the front window

and spied a huge mushroom that popped up out of nowhere.

It took us by surprise.

It was surely not there the day before.

And when we went out to examine it

it was even bigger than believed,

with baby ones beneath it.

I told my daughter it was magical to have toadstools on our front lawn.

I told her that toads would come and rest on it in the evenings,

on their way to the river.

“Toads need resting places” she said looking quite serious.

Yes, they certainly do I agreed.

Week 15. Beautiful symbols.

With all the rain these past few months I’ve been looking at the ground and seeing so many types of funguses growing on wet wood, stone and moss. The mushrooms reminded me of a morning years ago when my daughter and I found an enormous mushroom on our front lawn. It was stunning. I wished I could have preserved it somehow. When I saw it that day I immediately began to think about fairytales and toadstools. Looking back, I wonder why was a toads resting place was significant to me? I had been going through one of the hardest points in my divorce at the time. I surely needed to think about a place to rest. We all need to find refuge on our journeys. Even a three year old can understand that.

Funny thing is, when I think about all this today, more than two years later, I also see how magical it is when beautiful things that appear out of the blue. One day you have a carefully manicured lawn and the next there is a family of mushrooms camping out. Taking a moment to the notice these random things seems like a lovely way to see the word if you ask me. Maybe it’s not always practical (that I can attest to!) but I’d much rather see mushroom as a resting place for a toad than an annoyance on a perfect lawn. I was a bit sad when the lawn had to be cut a week or so after the mushroom appeared (and was now even bigger). It was hard for me to pull up that mushroom- that I can remember. I guess one way to preserve a beautiful symbol is to write about its significance and share it with others.