This seems to have been a week for mushrooms. My neighbor showed up at our front door with a bag of freshly picked Morels that Sarah and I made into a wonderful saute that we added to chicken fettucini. The earthy flavor of the Morels was the star of the meal.
However I didn’t photograph the Morels. I ate them too fast to take time to make any other kind of art than culinary art! It was a memorable dinner with a lovely bottle of wine.
We’ve had record rainfall which has contributed to a wet and wonderful Spring so far. Yesterday as I went to get into my car to head out to film a documentary video I noticed the large mushrooms that had grown next to a tree stump leftover from an old tree that had to be removed last Summer.
The size of the mushrooms and the speed at which they suddenly appeared within the uncut grass was impressive. They looked like an apartment complex or little Thomas Kinkade village.
These mushrooms are a magical delight for me to photograph. While I imagine Gnomes and Cheshire cats making smoke rings I am always aware that they are Death Cap mushrooms that are extremely poisonous and lethal. Just looking at the scene made me realize that the cause of there appearance has to do with all the rain and the roots from the tree stump that we have not had time to remove yet.
While I have chosen to keep them around for a couple of days to make some photographs Sarah and I are having to be extra vigilant in watching Murdoch our border collie go out to that area of the yard. One ingested bite would kill him. I’ll have to remove them tomorrow but for today I have decided to photograph and to let these mushrooms inspire the imagination.
To see more of the photos I made today click here. Let me know which images you like the most!
Apparently these mushrooms have taken up residence in the Pacific Northwest which has made picking mushrooms a much more serious activity as these are hard to distinguish from some edible varieties.
