Toadstool or Mushroom?

I don't care!

After rain, the earth spoke fungus, and thus it was: red, chocolate, white, yellow, maroon toes and umbrellas and  awkward lumps, small and large, bumpy and smooth.

Whether toadstool or fungus, whether edible or poisonous, their variety and beauty deserve celebration.

Fairy Ring

I had never heard of fairy rings (pixie rings is the term I prefer) before coming to Bell Buckle, but I had seen them before. Today, when I drove to school, I saw three of them on Turtle Circle, where some faculty houses are. The rings I saw were actually arcs, but the toadstools were beautiful -- plump cream-colored lumps with soft blotches and spots and blushes of sable. I had to take two pictures to celebrate their beauty.

Years ago, I was obsessed with photography. I used my Pentax SLR to take black and whites, which I printed with my father's old enlarger (until it was stolen, but that's another story entirely), and color slides. I still have tray upon tray of slides of toadstools and moss and flowers and acorns and other assorted tidbits of nature. Sometimes, I pull out my projector and just look at those slides by myself.

I love closeups of nature's small wonders in saturated, rich color. Indeed, I love making those photographs, and with digital photography I love looking at them on my computer. They serve no purpose -- except joy in the looking, taking, and looking.

Addendum: My friend Jill says the toadstools look like meringues. She's right. I wish I'd thought of that!