pic of the day - smurf village

My favorite cartoon as a child was the "Smurfs". I loved those little blue critters! As an only child, my imagination was quite active. Ok, who am I kidding, I still have an active imagination. The thought though of some kind of community of little blue people existing underneath all those mushrooms in the woods behind my house was just about more than I could stand. I was constantly on the lookout and was convinced my dog would someday sniff them out and then I could help take care of them. I also loved "The Littles"...is anyone else seeing a strange pattern here? Hmmm....oh well!

Imagine my thrill when I looked out my living room this morning to see that two little mushrooms had established themselves in my front yard overnight. Maybe just maybe they had their vacancy sign lit and I would finally have my own little smurf village. A girl can dream at any age! In reality, it wasn't so exciting that it couldn't wait for a couple cups of coffee, but once I was moving fluidly, out I went with my camera. I'm sure the neighbors were having a chuckle at me out in my front yard, on my knees with my butt in the air excited by fungus. "Martha, that girl needs to get out more. I think that dog has driven her mad. She's taking pictures of toadstools!"

I began to wonder though, "what is the purpose of a mushroom?". Instantly, the song Turn Turn Turn popped in my head and while I could recall living, dying, dancing, laughing, crying, I could not recall a lyric that mentions toadstools. In all seriousness, about the only productive thing I could come up with was that mushrooms are probably wonderful little treats for all the squirrels and bunnies in my yard. "Happy eating tonight kids...We're going to the mushroom buffet!"

Then, it occurred to me that maybe just maybe a fringe benefit purpose of these two little mushrooms was the sheer glee they brought to me, the memories of my childhood that came flooding through me, the chuckle that my excitement brought to Harvey and Martha (those names are made up to protect the innocent), and their ultimate stardom as the topic of this entry meant for yourreading pleasure. Some may think it self centered or brazen to think that the purpose of everyday things in everyday life around them might just be designed for them. I think if we all start to look at the everyday things in everyday life like toadstools as little gifts and blessings sent just for our viewing pleasure, we might have happier days with happier attitudes.