#FungiFriday - Rebirth

Good evening, FungiFriends!

Here is my contribution to #FungiFriday by @ewkaw :)

It was last Tuesday, and I was striding along on my way to my swimming lesson, which was due to start in just over ten minutes, and whilst I was still quite a long way from my destination, as I passed the same spot where I usually walk almost every day (it’s the same route I take daily to and from the gym), I came across a large cluster of mushrooms with enormous caps and very bright colours, as if they’d only just sprouted from the ground! And perhaps they really had sprouted just a couple of hours earlier, as in the previous days there had indeed been a marked increase in daily rainfall.

And all of us nature lovers know how life is rejuvenated and blossoms just a few hours after a good downpour… Isn’t that right?

And as I was running out of time to get to the gym, and the light that afternoon wasn’t great either – the sky was quite overcast, with yet another downpour (the sort typical of autumn) brewing at that very moment – I didn’t want to risk stopping to capture these magnificent specimens of the Fungi kingdom.

Of course, I couldn’t get the ‘reunion’ I’d just had out of my head. Right there, in that very spot, and around the trunk of that very same tree, I’d caught a glimpse of a similar phenomenon, though involving specimens of a not-so-generous size.

And isn’t it always nice when we come across mushrooms in the middle of ‘a city’? There’s always a space they manage to occupy, and they stubbornly make themselves appear, reminding us of what is truly important.

And this recurring nature of the phenomenon made me think of a parallel. Could there be a better goal for a society – and indeed for a species such as humankind – than ensuring that the next generation has a better future, or at least one equal to our own? Could there be a better feeling than knowing and realising that we have managed to leave this world, even if only for a few brief hours, a little as it was before our intervention – or our failure to intervene?

I compare it to picking up a small piece of rubbish – one that has either been left on a nature trail, or has slipped out of a bin and been carried away by a stronger gust of wind?

I know it’s something very simple and fleeting, but that simple act of helping to leave things better – or at least not remaining indifferent to what we see, feel or observe – ends up being a true elixir for our soul. At least for mine.

A small gesture, added to many other small gestures, may one day make a difference to something, even if only to warm our hearts, which beat continuously in our chests, without really knowing why they do so, but feeling so much bigger once the duty has been fulfilled.

And so it was this Thursday, just yesterday, whilst I was on my way to the gym again – and this time not rushing against the clock – I managed to catch the light just right to be able to capture, see and feel, for a few brief moments, the reappearance of this little, simple wonder (or wonders)!

Thank you for joining me on this post.

I hope to be able to contribute more often to this community!

Bem Hajam🍀🍄