Of Storms and Mushrooms

Of storms and mushrooms: 

it's the time of storms and mushrooms, a cloud burst of heavy rain, lightening, and strong wind, often a daily occurrence through these hot and humid summer months. These storms appear due to moisture in the air, rising rapidly to meet colder conditions above and it's this mixture that causes the intensity of summer storms. From safety it's an amazing thing to witness, frightening if caught within the violence, tornado's, flash flooding and falling trees are always a possibility. 

yet there's intense beauty too.

as a kid I loved emerging from my house immediately after such a storm, following the swollen creeks to see how high they rose,  strong currents becoming rapids, almost a river in certain spots. There were fallen tree limbs to climb across, larger rocks washed from the stream banks to now reach the path, all residue from the storms violent sweep through my local woods. 

later in life, long distance runs and hikes kept me ever watchful for the conditions of these storms, on the lookout for the safest spot available should run arise while I was still some distance from my home. Even with being careful there were times when I was caught directly in a storms path and the only real options it seemed was to continue right through, surrendering to wind and sudden downpour, mindful of whatever debris might be blown in my direction, most literally becoming an object of the storm, no escape, windswept, drenched, a fierce acceptance of every flash of lightening and booming thunder. 

sometimes continuous motion is our only safest option. 

and then, always, there is that peaceful aftermath...my lifelong favorite is the sudden appearance of mushrooms the following morning after such a storm. Abundant and seemingly spontaneous, where there were none just the day before they're now seen quite clearly, mysteriously, appearing as if by some deep earth magic. This fungi is always present, but seldom noticed until post rainfall when they bloom to the typical mushroom appearance. Mushrooms are actually the fruiting body of fungi, flower like, their role is to produce spores and release them to the air. Mushrooms show me the flourish of life that results from every storm, teaching me to trust that the unseen holds a true and certain magic of its own, and that sometimes beauty only shows after heavy rainfall. 

and so it is, the magic of summer begins...

a showing of storms and mushrooms. 

~

Peace, Eric