Anthony Doerr Strikes it “Rich” With Fungus
A nice op-ed piece appeared on July 2, 2010 at the website of the New York Times. Not your typical, “this is what it is like on a morel hunt” piece, Anthony Doerr (seemingly writing from McCall, Idaho) gives us glimpse into what a pleasant diversion from the troubles of the world can be had on a simple half-hour stroll in the woods. Looking for mushrooms of course:
During my half-hour stroll, it snows, then hails, then becomes fabulously, luxuriously sunny. I’m watching a wet fox sun himself on a rock, steam rising from his back, when I notice a morel mushroom, like the hat of a little forest gnome, poking up out of leaf litter. Within a minute, I’ve found four more.
It’s nice. It takes you there. It reminds us of why simple things are good and how nature remains tantalizing beautiful and mysterious despite the technological might brought to bear on trying to understand it.
Take a minute to read the whole piece, Getting Rich on Fungus, and enjoy the simple things. It won’t take much time and will be well worth the trip.
Tags: essay, morels, mushroom hunting, nature walk
