OK, it seems the 2015 season is behind us. It's left me with some Epilogish musings:
This was in some ways my first complete season of hunting. 2014 had been the year that, knowing they were "around", I managed to stumble upon the kindness of Ps. Allenii on a well-beaten track I walk almost daily. Hardly believing it could be so, I gingerly collected, spore-printed, bruised and then tentatively, after much webbing around, taste-tested a small specimen, and in minutes, a familiar sensation told me that yes, it not only could be so, but was. As someone who has driven thousands of miles in at times in pursuit of Teonanacatl, I was kinda floored. So 2014 was a kind of discovery year. And sure made me curious about what 2014 would bring, now that I knew there was something to look for.
1. In my last posting, I wrote that I had concluded that actives were actually more plentiful, right in my own town, than I ever would have credited. Immediately upon saying that, I stopped finding any, despite enthusiastic searching. Indeed, it was toward the end of the season, but others were still reporting good finds. Perhaps the mushrooms were chastising me somehow, or just having a joke. They do have a sense of humor, I think.
2. Hunting the elusive woodlovers, I became, and remain (despite the season's end) overly interested in wood-chip mulching. I am distracted by whether a given apartment complex uses wood chips; and I am appalled by enclaves where the chips have been dyed with (I fear with no real basis) mycologically hostile colored dyes. Heathens. And I must remain mindful of driving, lest I be distracted by any expanse of "likely habitat" to be seen. Be careful.
3. I have particular yearnings to discover our quarry on the grounds of a Church of Jesus Christ of Later-Day Saints (personal reasons), or, failing that, a Catholic Church (the same that drove Teonanacatl underground from the 1500's until the 1950's). Or almost any government building... (I like the notion that police stations/courthouses in some places act as spore magnets due to the collection of evidence).
4. While I came up short of truly industrial quantities, 2014 was a great season. I found a couple of prolific patches, the original from 2015 yielded moderately, and I found scattered occurrences in two additional places. I scouted a lot of territory, and should be in good shape for 2016.
5. With the success that I did have, and given that many of what I did collect were groups of three or more mushrooms, they tended to bring a lot of the growth medium, heavily laced with happy look mycelium, along. I accumulated it all in a shallow cardboard box, and kept it moist over the season. I contemplated donating it all to a local park with good-looking habitat, but in the end couldn't get the notion of a little cultivated patch out of my head. So, a few weeks ago, I spread the accumulation over a small patch of irrigated landscaping in the yard, and covered it with fresh (but aged looking, and showing no sign of having hosted any fungal action) wood chips. It's about the lowest "tech" I could imagine as an attempt at cultivation. But the "starter" is abundant and appears very well inoculated with mycelium. I'm hoping it's enough to fend off any invader. I'm hoping the new chips, which I did not attempt to sterilize in any way, doesn't carry some Allenii-nemisis, fungal, bacterial, or otherwise. I hope I do not overwater it. I'm of course very curious what the odds of it fruiting in the fall are; but it's a cheap experiment.
My only other attempt was Cubensis from spores back in 1978 or so, and it was foiled by a nasty yellow slimy infection of some sort. But is seems as if spore culture is by nature more delicate; I'm hoping that a well established mycelial growth, and this experiment, is beyond the perils of childhood and my own ignorance.
6. Oh, this world is good to me (sometimes! :-) The presence of this magic in the world, seemingly peaking in mid-December each year, has re-imparted Christmas (and associated Solstitial holidays) with a feeling of magic, akin to what I felt as a child. Now that my own children are grown, having completed the phases of Christmas to a child, and Christmas to a parent, it had started to seem as if something was lost. But, living where and when I do, there is this new factor; that this may become a time of year for touching base with something that, for good or ill, has become a source of much pleasure, amazement, joy, and wonder in my life.
7. At the very end of the season, I took my wife, who has never partaken, to one of the good spots from this season, and she found several nice ones I had missed. She seemed to enjoy the hunt. Recently, she even claimed she might be interested in the experience. I am very reluctant to promote or try to dampen her enthusiasm, since it is such a personal choice, and can have such profound consequences. But of course, when I think about the good things the experience has brought me (in balance), I would love for her to see/hear/feel/touch with the senses (and most importantly, beyond the senses) that the mushrooms bestow.
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