Walking in the neighborhood. About a block and a half from my East Knoxville house in Tennessee — these bodacious mushrooms:
Almost couldn’t believe the brazen boldness of these fungi! Just to capture the sense of scale, I plunked my hat down amongst them, along with the red hand-weights I was pumping.
For anyone curious, the hat is a dark green “Seattle Sombrero” made by Outdoor Research, Inc. If memory serves, it’s classified as an Australian cowboy hat.
The weights are called “Heavyhands”. Starting in 1982, they were all the rage for a while. You grasp the straight part, while the curved straps cup the back of your hand. The black weights on the ends can be swapped.
You’re supposed to pump these while you run — or in my case, walk. The workout is a lot more strenuous than it looks. There’s a technique to master; not everyone, apparently, warms to it.
I suppose that’s why Heavyhands, after a brief surge of popularity, vanished. Except mine. I’ve been using mine now for more than three decades. Nearly half my life. I credit them (and their recently deceased inventor, Dr. Leonard Schwartz) with keeping me fit as a fiddle.
But sooner or later, all organisms wear out. Few things symbolize that reality better than mushrooms. The ones pictured above crumbled within another day or two.
Which reminded me to dig out the shots below. I took these last year over a span of four or five days in a wood near Allatoona Lake in Georgia:
That’s of course the same mushroom, aging over time. Just like us!
One more shot. Cheri and I came across this charming scene while exercise-walking in the Island Home region of South Knoxville:
These photos, by the way, all were taken with my iPhone 4s.
Do you have favorite mushroom shots you’ve taken? If you’ve posted them online, please feel free to leave links in the comment section below.
Google Plus Comments on Figure 1: Mushrooms this big!
Google Plus comments on Figure 2: Life Cycle of a Mushroom
4 responses to “My Favorite Mushrooms!”
I love this article. I too am fascinated with mushrooms. I found a huge pie sized mushroom in my neighborhood recently and added it to my Critters and Things article on Alley Cat Lane, in a section I already had on mushrooms in my yard.
Carolyn, thanks so much for sharing your thoughts.
I just spent some time wandering around in your delightful website, AlleyCatLane.com. Found treasures galore but not the mushroom photo to which you refer. Can you perhaps send a more specific link? I’d love to see it. No doubt other readers would, as well.
There’s something magical about mushrooms. As a child, I loved the wonderful “Mushroom Planet” books. (Don’t ask — just Google them!)
Here’s the article that huge mushroom is in: http://alleycatlane.com/2014/08/25/critters-things/ It’s about half way down the page in the mushroom section, last photo. Thanks for stopping by my web site.
Thanks, Carolyn — your site is well worth the visit.