A recent morning ramble through the neigborhood took me past fungus, earthworms, hawks, turkey buzzards, lily pads, cat tails, beaver dens, leaves beginning to turn – all under a spectacular September cloudless sky.
The route walked was the same followed usually in an auto, or when jogging. The slower pace of a walk allowed me to notice and savor these critters and plants.
As many of our lives are compelled to a frenetic pace, the abundance that surrounds us is often overlooked. I took the same route I usually follow, but at a much slower pace.
You might want to try something similar, taking a familiar route at an unfamiliar pace, and see if it becomes easier to notice the beauty in which we are immersed, and, of which, we are a part.
From: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bracket_fungus
“Bracket fungi, or shelf fungi, are among the many groups of fungi that comprise the phylum Basidiomycota. Characteristically, they produce shelf- or bracket-shaped or occasionally circular fruiting bodies called conks that lie in a close planar grouping of separate or interconnected horizontal rows. Brackets can range from only a single row of a few caps, to dozens of rows of caps that can weigh several hundred pounds. They are mainly found on trees (living and dead) and coarse woody debris, and may resemble mushrooms. Some form annual fruiting bodies while others are perennial and grow larger year after year. Bracket fungi are typically tough and sturdy and produce their spores, called basidiospores, within the pores that typically make up the undersurface.”