A longtime friend of mine grew up with a University Professor father. They moved when his father changed jobs from one university to another, but his father’s research involved field work in forests, so he grew up with a deep love and appreciation for wilderness. When we were younger we enjoyed paddling in the summer and skiing in the winter during the years that I lived in Idaho. I moved, but he has continued to live in Idaho and has retired to a small town in the middle of the state that gives him ample access to the wilderness. As often happens, we ended up talking about our families of origin one day and he told me that his father was a mycologist. I didn’t even know what a mycologist was. It is a person who studies fungi and mushrooms.

His father’s work explained how my friend had lived in Idaho, but that the family had moved to Maine when he was growing up. Later my friend moved back to Idaho. The state held many fond memories for him. But I understand his father’s desire to find woods with more moisture than is the case with most Idaho places.

It isn’t that there are no mushrooms and fungi to study in Idaho. Foresters like Peter Wohlleben and Susan Simard have published extensively about their research into mycelium, a root-like structure of fungus that is made up of a mass of branching hyphae. Mycelium can be found in almost all soil and is critical to the health of all forests. For generations foresters treated trees as if they were independent plants without understanding the role of mycelium in plant health. The deepening understanding of mycelium has led to significant and revolutionary understandings of basic concepts of forestry and forest health.

Having lived in and near forests for much of my life, I have been largely unaware of the fungus and mushrooms that are above ground expressions and part of the reproductive structures of much larger underground fungus. I would see mushrooms in the forest occasionally and I learned to harvest and prepare a few specific types for food, but for the most part I get my mushrooms from the store when I need some. Knowing that not all mushrooms are edible and some are poisonous to humans, I have a fear of accidentally harvesting and eating the wrong types.

I am not a mycologist. I don’t know how to identify mushrooms. However, a walk through the forests of the pacific northwest at this time of the year gives a tour of many types of mushrooms. Several types of mushrooms sport bright colors and are beautiful to behold.

Yesterday we started a walk along the beach here on the Oregon coast. The open ocean here is so different from the protected bay of the Salish Sea where we live. Here the surf is constant and the waves crash without ceasing. The beach is sandy and extends for miles. It is the rainy season here, so after a short walk on the beach the rising tide and rain encouraged us to seek shelter in a forested area just over a sand dune from the shore. There we were treated to a pathway through the forest. The canopy overhead protected us from the rain, with a constant dripping from the leaves overhead, but protection enough to make our walk a joy without getting us too wet. It was an enchanting walk. I don’t remember ever noticing such a delightful undergrowth. All of the trees were covered in moss and the light filtering through the canopy combined with the dripping of the rain to give the place a secret and magical feel.

There were all kinds of mushrooms growing everywhere. I took a few photographs, but it is a place worthy of a return visit with a different camera lens for more exploration. I know that this type of forest is not unique to the Oregon coast. Nearer to our home are many more opportunities to explore and learn more about mushrooms. If fact there recently was a guided tour and opportunity to learn more about mushrooms near our home while we have been gone. Some of my friends have posted pictures of some of the mushrooms they discovered on the walk.

I checked out several websites about pacific northwest mushrooms and one site had beautiful photographs of 133 different types of mushrooms. These often grow together attached to a vast network of underground mycelium.

This world offers many opportunities to behold beauty even when we do not understand. It is unlikely that I will take up the study of mushroom identification, but it seems like I need to learn the names of some of the types of mushrooms that are common. At least I know I will be looking down at the ground as I walk this fall and winter. And I’m sure I will find time to go out with my camera to capture images of tiny parts of the beauty that my eyes behold.

For now, the walk through the coastal forest inspires memories of J. R. R. Tolkien’s fantasy writing. The forest walk was like a visit to Middle-earth and I could imagine the homes of Hobbits scurrying to and fro around the area. Tolkien isn’t the only author who was inspired by damp coastal forests and described them in his writing. In Norse writing Miðgarðr is a place that inspires tales of a mythological past. In Old English works, including Beowulf, Middangeard is a similar place that is born of human imagination, but also of the reality of beautiful forest places. From Little Miss Muppet to Humongous Fungus children’s books are filled with illustrations and descriptions of mushrooms ad toadstools. I can easily imagine how walking through a forest filled with mushrooms with a child might inspire stories and adventures of imagination.

Our walk yesterday underscores how much I do not know and understand about the place where I live. A closer inspection will certainly inspire sufficient new discovery to keep me engaged for years to come.