Autumnal days

Walking today you know with certainty that autumn's here, which is fine and as it should be, although it would've been nice to have had a summer to speak of before the wheel turned. But hey. The rain really lashed down at times and persisted heavily for the remainder of the time, it wasn't long before we were soaked to the bone, you got even wetter walking under the canopy where huge drops which had collected above could no longer defy gravity. As the seasons change so do the areas we tend to roam, this is as it's alway been through most of human existence and through the activities I pursue I continue that tradition. The reason? Foraging, every season has its bounties and rarely are they all found in the same locale. That's not to say we don't just walk in nature for the inherent connections and benefits that brings, though I do tend to plan or tailor walks, when necessary, to the resources required or available. In times past nomadic peoples would've had their lives dictated by the procurement these resources and later when communities had settled it was still common for seasonal camps away from the homesteads to be established to utilize available resources. Modernity has done for that, with far too many people being unaware of what they're eating or where it came from or even what you can eat. For me with autumn comes the mushroom and berry foraging season. So that was what we were recon-ing today. Yes, there are mushrooms emerging out there, all over the place in fact, though none that I fancied putting in the pot. There were a few edibles about but they were all a bit soggy; Brown Birch Boletes (Leccinum scabrum) are popping up here and there, a good edible but I knew they'd be puree by the time we got them back and later towards the end of our walk as we rose up onto the exposed holms, where the rain was driven so forcefully by the whipping winds that it blurred my vision, here we came upon a cluster of maybe 10 or more Parasol Mushrooms (Macrolepiota procera), again sadly worse the wear for the weather.  Still, it all bodes well, fingers crossed for a good coming season. Good hunting, and remember collect carefully (if you're not 110% sure of what you're picking, then don't pick) and responsibility, lets keep the mythical hordes picking the forest clean, just that....mythical.