Mushroom Forest Meditation

The forest is warm and wet in August. Three runs to the Francis Marion, several hikes around EFP, and a severe

case of chiggers. South Carolina has been fortunate to see thunderstorms every afternoon this week. After severe drought threatened the onset of new climate change conditions, I am grateful for the reprieve. Though I have been putting more thought into retention ponds and water capture systems. I will rent an excavator in the near future.

So, mushrooms, mushrooms everywhere. Friday started out with a walk around the east dyke of Lake Marion, which led me southerly down into the forest along the Palmetto Trail. I stuffed my pockets with turkey tail and young chanterelles.

Later in the day, I began to make plans for a trip.

After some negotiation regarding childcare, I was able to secure 26 days for rest and recovery in October. Further research led me to Bhutan.

Bhutan is sandwiched east of Nepal, South of Tibet and China, and just north of India. It is truly a country of the Himalayas, untouched by pollution and boasting negative net carbon. The last Shangri la, with promises of mystical experiences beyond my comprehension. A country with thousands of years of experience in such. Bhutan has not re-opened to the public since the beginning of the Covid pandemic in 2020.

With monasteries, mountains, mushrooms, and hot springs I was easily persuaded to commit to a full itinerary within the country. I began to plan for this adventure.

Over the weekend PJ and I enjoyed several walks around Elysian Fields Park. I enticed him to run a few perimeter laps with me, with the insinuation that training would be necessary for upcoming trips next year. We noted several cauliflower and puffballs but decided to let them mature. I'll be back to check on them today.

The last two days (Monday and Tuesday) I have managed to get in several hours of foraging along with some light training. Monday turned up the most beautiful chanterelles I have ever seen, along with oysters in full bloom, and a few reishi. Tuesday, I jogged along the Jericho horse trail located just 10 minutes from the farm and was fortunate to have my first encounter with black trumpets. I left behind the chanterelles this time, but plan to return for them later this week.

Yesterday afternoon marked my first day of class at the College of Charleston. I was concerned that my Moral Psychology class on top of my already full-time schedule would be more than I could find time for. Serendipitously it turns out that my professor Thomas Nadelhoffer is an experimental philosopher and that Topics in Ethical Theory: Moral Psychology is essentially an experimental philosophy class. I am so glad I did not drop. We will investigate free will, moral responsibility, and human agency in the coming months. I found this to be very convincing for my own arguments.