I love mushrooms. Not to hug or stroke lovingly. I love mushrooms because I like to eat them. Common mushrooms, portobello, shittake, any old mushrooms. Not Death’s Cap.
Admittedly, I don’t know if I could trust myself to identify Death’s Cap. I apparently trust Safeway and Trader Joes to help keep me safe. I should study mushrooms more.
This is what I know. Mushrooms are not plants, they are not animals. They share characteristics of both, but are closer to animals than plants.
Hmm, some think that plants have communication with each other, and perhaps even with humans. Hmm, maybe mushrooms communicate even more?
On a very basic level I have this feeling that eating mushrooms…is like eating brain tissue. Yuck! I still love eating mushrooms. Do they have brains?
I did a Google search and found this…
Interestingly, yet disturbing article. What the heck am I eating? Sure, I justify eating meat. But I have convinced that I am in touch with the food chain. I eat everything edible in plants, and I eat everything in the animal kingdom that doesn’t have a first name.
Not sure where fungi fits. I’d feel better if it was a plant.
The two largest living entities are fungi. One in Washington and one in Oregon. Both are about two miles in size. Yikes!
So, I did some research on how we picture fungi, beyond the normal photographs. Clearly most of the illustrations are attempts to document the varieties. Scientific illustrations.
Can artists connect with deeper understand? I found mushrooms as furniture. Probably echoing Alice’s Cheshire Cat, perched on a mushroom. Elves are often sitting comfortably.
Mushrooms are also seen as little homes. The cap does look like a roof so it’s natural to put a little door and window in the stem. But what small rooms!!
The overwhelming illustration is a cute little character with a funny hat. There is also the video game mushroom with Mario. Again, cute!
My current thoughts are that I should eat mushrooms in the dark. And I should watch my step when walking in the woods. I don’t want to anger what I don’t understand.
I still want to eat them, in the dark.
