Magic in nature

Sometimes nature gives us gifts of things that we have immortalized in children's stories making that thing seem unreal. The Amanita muscaria is one of those beauties in nature. From stories of gnomes to this postcard of Santa, the magical red toadstool with white spots seems almost unreal when found in nature.


This is a common toadstool here in Holland. On Saturday, we had to go to a village near Cranberry Cottage to do some shopping and found a great number of them growing along the banks of a canal there. Some were fading away, their bright red now going into a brown color.


"I am rich today with autumn's gold,
All that my covetous hands can hold;
Frost-painted leaves and goldenrod,
A goldfinch on a milkweed pod,
Huge golden pumpkins in the field
With heaps of corn from a bounteous yield,
Golden apples heavy on the trees
Rivaling those of Hesperides,
Golden rays of balmy sunshine spread
Over all like butter on warm bread;
And the harvest moon will this night unfold
The streams running full of molten gold.
Oh, who could find a dearth of bliss
With autumn glory such as this!"

~ Gladys Harp