Free Write - Mushrooms

 

Today's Free Write with my two writing friends (one is a husband) was extra special. We were back at Martel together in Vesenaz, Switzerland. My dog Sherlock was excited to see Julia walk into the café. It was my prompt, a photo taken at a rest stop on our drive from southern France to Geneva.

D-L's Free Write 

The Rangeli family had a fall tradition. Every November they went into the woods to gather mushrooms.

They belonged to a Mushroom Club. Members met to study and share information about mushrooms. Even when members could see which mushrooms were okay to eat, they took them to the local pharmacist to make sure.

Jane, the wife, had dozens of recipes featuring mushrooms.

Bill, the husband, was a scientist who did work none of the family understood.

Emma, the daughter, was nine.

Bill Jr. was 13. This year he declared he wasn't going.

The woods smelled damp and within a half hour their baskets were full with mushrooms they recognized.

Emma ran ahead. "Mama, Papa. Come look."

Nestled in a grassy patch was a nest of mushrooms they never saw before. They picked them, but kept them separate.

The pharmacist didn't know either. "I need to do research. Call me tomorrow."

The next morning, the phone rang. The pharmacist said, "Very poisonous.The Romans used them to kill people. I have no idea how they arrived here."

Julia's Free Write  

 I wonder as I wander…

Oops, I’m supposed to be having original thoughts, not copying another author!

Still, out here in one of my favorite forests, I wonder and I wander.

Today was meant to be a very social day, but one by one, all those plans fell apart. I am slightly upset. On the other hand, there’s nothing that I love better than a walk in this forest. It calms me, recharges me and makes me yet again realize that as a human being I have choices, I can enjoy and benefit from some downtime occasionally.

It’s fall and for once, not foggy, not raining.

OK, let’s be totally honest, all the wandering in the world hasn’t taken away my anger at one of those cancelled appointments: not the first time for this person, who often does this to me.

Hmmm, I just spied some mushrooms. Perhaps they’re toxic, perhaps I’ll save them for Mark’s last meal.

Rick's Free Write

18 Nov free write rick

Mushrooms. ‘Shrooms. Toadstools. Champignons. Whatever you call them, I’m not interested in eating them.

First, there’s the poison thing. Some mushrooms are toxic, some aren’t. I never learned which was which. So even if someone – even a pharmacy, even RFK Jr. – told me a certain psilocybin was okay to ingest, there’s that nagging doubt in my mind. Doubt when I touch it, doubt when I put it in my mouth, and doubt amplified when I eat it.

Besides, to me, mushrooms have little or no taste on their own. And the texture is mushy. Why bother?

The only way I consume mushrooms is if they are sliced and diced into little pieces. Better yet, pureed.

I don’t know the difference between morilles and a portobello; don’t care.

The only likeable mushroom is the little character in the Mario Brothers video game. (Not sure if he’s poison, though.)

Rick Adams is an aviation journalist and publisher of www.aviationvoices.com, a weekly newsletter reporting the top stories about the airline industry. He is the author of The Robot in the Simulator. AI in Aviation Training.  

Visit D-L.'s website  https://dlnelsonwriter.com, She is the author of 15 fiction and three non fiction books. Her 300 Unsung Women, bios of women who battled gender limitations, can be purchased  at https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/300-unsung-women-d-l-nelson/1147305797?ean=9798990385504 

Visit Julia's blog. She has written and taken photos and loves syncing up with friends.  Her blog can be found: https://viewsfromeverywhere.blogspot.com/