Can you read a mushroom?
 
While we can recognise people perfectly well and have names for them
We can’t do so with trees or mushrooms as easily
A phenomena we call tree blindness or mushroom blindness
 
To see in new ways, we must be able to percieve new details.
See the same thing with fresh eyes.
 
We often miss details were not looking for.
To know how what to see, is to recognise, is to form a relationship
If we are to befriend the natural world, we are to first learn to recognise them.
 
A fine vocabulary helps us see finer details.
 
Can you read a mushroom?
How would you describe the shape? Texture?
Are the gills attached? How closely were they spaced?
Did the stem have a skirt?
Was the base bulbous?
 
WHO IS THIS FOR?
Some of us have roamed the natural world and
Felt a yearning to connect deeper with the land.
A yearning to know more.
This is a chart for those who feel that pull.
For those who wish to perceive a greater level of detail
 
While we have names for people, some of us have one word for an entire kingdom: mushrooms
It is time we add more words to that list
 
Although I must add, learning to see new details can rouse insatiable desire
If you’re the kind of person who picks up on a clue and goes down a long rabbit, then there is no saving you.
 
You’ve been warned.