There is a different feel in the woods now. A different kind of life is taking over and becoming more prominent. It was always there but hidden in the background, and so it went unnoticed. It was easy to avoid, easy to ignore. But with the scent of death in the air, that slightly sour fragrance of decaying leaves, the life which was hidden becomes emboldened. Where it once lingered in the shadows, afraid of the sun, now it struts in broad daylight. This is as it should be.
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| Ink cap mushrooms (Coprinopsis atramentaria). |
We are reminded, once again, that we share our world with
many creatures. The typical preference
for creatures of the sun makes us blind to the creatures of the dark half of
the year. Eyes that are dazzled by the
light of the sun develop an inability to appreciate the dark hollows of the
forest. More’s the pity for that, but
the trumpets announcing the coming of the Lord of Winter can now be clearly
heard. And for some of us, this is a
good thing.
These ink cap mushrooms, along with dozens of other
mushrooms, now clamor for attention. In a
day or so, a thick black liquid will ooze and drip from all around the cap of
the mushroom as it dissolves. There was
a time when people used this mushroom for ink.
After I took the picture, I broke off a piece of the large one on the
left. Or at least, I attempted to do
so. But ink caps are so slimy and slippery
that a tear here and there was all I could manage. Even so, my fingers were covered in thick,
black, sticky ink.
And all around, you will notice the scent of death. This is not the noxious scent of decaying flesh
but the heady and deep fragrance of decomposing vegetation. It’s at once sour, musty, woodsy, and
pungent. It causes a reaction in the
body. You take very deep breaths and
savor the process. You draw your coat
about you a bit tighter. You hunch your
shoulders a bit. Then you gaze downward
at the ground, walking in a slight daze, thinking, planning. It’s time to start preparing, you tell
yourself. It’s time to check your
supplies. Winter is coming.
