May 26, 2026

Oyster mushrooms in our woods; 93 year old Dad forest-planning a hundred years into the future; changes in my belief system over the years; Dance Me: Music by Leonard Cohen

From The Woods

I found oyster mushrooms! (pleurotus ostreatus) For the first time! I was walking in our woods and saw the white fan-shaped caps layering atop another on a decaying alder tree. I looked up identifying factors, which include 1) a slightly sweet anise-like smell, 2) gills that run partially down the stem, 3) an overlapping growing pattern, 4) saprotrophic (feed on dead material) 5) grow on hardwoods. My find checked all these boxes. I finished my walk and went back with a knife and a basket. I noticed the alder was on both sides of the trail, so pulled back just-blossoming trailing blackberry and sword fern to see if any more mushrooms were growing. I was wearing short sleeves so could’t really get down into the brush, but I didn’t see any. I’ll go back with my trusty hickory shirt and gloves. I sauteed them with butter and salt, and had a hard time not eating all of them all by myself.

People Older Than Trees

Those of you who have been following this blog for awhile know that we have about 80 acres of Willamette Valley Ponderosa Pine in areas infected with laminated root rot. (see January 20 post) Mixed in are a few Douglas-fir and western red cedar. The trees are fifteen years old, and they’re starting to crowd each other. Later this summer we’ll do a “PCT,” a pre-commercial thinning.

Dad and I walked through the pine again this morning to confirm our plan. I asked Dad what he thinks about next steps for this part of our forest. His answer shows his inherent optimism and an expansive view of “us.” He’s thinking out a hundred years and uses the word “we” to talk about what he thinks should happen. It’s not that he thinks he’ll be alive in 40 years, but that he sees the next generations as part of himself, the forest as part of himself, in the same way he sees himself as part of the forest. Take a listen.

What I’m Reading/Writing

Traversal is my next Maria Popova read. Her expansive curiosity and detailed enthusiasm for truth and beauty continue to inspire and soothe. I wrote earlier that Popova’s approach to the world gives me a comfort I thought I gave up when I could molted Christianity. A bit about my path from there to here:

When I was slowly making my way out of the rigid beliefs exemplified by Keith Green whose song titles include “To Obey is Better Than Sacrifice,” “Create in Me a Clean Heart,” and “Pledge My Head to Heaven,” I found my way to Madeleine L’ Engle’s Crosswick Journals. L’ Engle’s gentler faith gave me a stepping stone into a more generous belief system. Of all the Christian books that I read, these three are still on my shelves. I am grateful for her to helping me out.

But one of L’Engle’s themes is that without belief in God, the world is a cold, hard place. That thought has niggled at me for two decades; I’ve worried that if I look too closely at the world, at truth, I’ll find bleakness. And while bleakness is easily found (Tom and I just watched Midnight Cowboy), Popova’s examination of the nature’s splendor and the complexities of human nature, show me a path to being that feels warm and supportive. Still working out just why this is. Stay tuned.

Stumptown

Tom and I went to see Dance Me: Music By Leonard Cohen, a modern dance production at Keller Hall. It had been a long time since we’d been in that part of downtown Portland, and it was gorgeous!

Whenever I see modern dance, I want to take lessons. . .