Nature Says I Love You

I’ve really missed the forest. Although my priorities have been clear, having to work on a difficult situation in my life has meant that I’ve been away from the woods more than I’ve grown accustomed to this summer. I’ve missed many of the little seasonal changes I see from visiting the same trails from week to week. And I’ve very much missed the mushrooms.

Throughout the summer, I would see different varieties thrive, taking their turns to stretch up out of the earth, the bark, the landscape of the woods. Each trip to the forest is like a treasure hunt as my eyes scan the forest to either side of the path. But I don’t need to go on and on about my love for fungi, since I’ve already written a love letter in another blog. The point is, I’ve missed the woods, and the other day, I discovered the woods have also missed me.

Last Friday I was supposed to be going to the forest to take pictures make-believing I was a satyr or a faun, with my lovely curled ram horns made by Linden Sidhe, and a long green dress. The sun was just starting to cut through the early morning fog, and it made the whole forest divide into patches of dark shadow and softly glowing golden light. Magical. I had two choices for what path to take, and I let my instinct guide me up a steep stairway to the higher path.

Eventually, as often happens, something off the trail caught my eye and I left the packed dirt to venture into the woods itself. I clambered over roots, ducked under branches, and then I saw a tiny little mushroom, one of the delicate ones no larger than a sewing straight pin. And then another, and another. I followed the path of these tiny mushrooms, carefully looking at my feet so I wouldn’t step on any, until I came to a clearing. I was still close enough to the path that I could see it, but it felt like another world. I gasped as I came across three beautiful larger mushrooms with caps a soft dusty shade of rose red. “Hello, you,” I murmured.

Soon I discovered that this football field-sized clearing in the woods was a wonderland. I found another mushroom, and another. All sorts of different kinds, shapes, colors, sizes. I took more photographs than I suspect I would have in a month of forest outings. I kept muttering “oh, you beautiful creatures you” as I stepped a few more feet and another beauty caught my eye.

It truly felt like a gift from forest magic. It felt like the woods were whispering “we’ve missed you, but we know why you were away. We understand. We aren’t angry. Here, we have something for you.”

Love someone, unconditionally, and sometimes you may be surprised when you find out they love you back.