I spent the major part of the morning hunting morel mushrooms in the damp, dewy woods with my kids. Although we are no strangers to forest hikes, this was our first fungi scavenging mission. We have hunters in our family and have been on animal sighting expeditions before so we were all aware of the importance of both grace and discretion. There was a competitive anticipation in the air and with the possibility of feasting on our discoveries, we set off furtively along the narrow trail. Soon leaving the trail altogether and venturing further away from charted territory, we stumbled upon some mushrooms. Four different varieties, in fact, but so far not the elusive morel. As the minutes turned to hours and our optimism slowly waned, we decided to play a game with nature. We stopped moving. We stood perfectly still - almost holding our breath. Standing still as though placing the final tier on a house of playing cards. And as we stopped and gave our attention to the world around us, we realized something of great importance: Life exists outside of us.
The divine green moss which was growing on the fallen maple tree beside us was concealing not one but three sleepy toads tucked lovingly in her soft velvety blanket. A robin was quietly surveying us from her nest overhead. And a team of ants were skillfully working in complete symbiosis with the decaying debris. We saw large holes in the rich, black dirt where other animals were likely waiting patiently for us to continue on our journey. The earth which seemed uneventful and even fruitless just moments ago was now vibrant with activity. Then, there on the ground, only inches from my boot, was this masterpiece of beauty. Standing only three inches tall but holding all the world's glory was our first morel.
It had been standing there all along, just waiting for us to notice.
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