I had the day to myself and it was a beautiful day. I went off to the dump near the Laotian monastery to take our usual walk, but it was just me and Cleo. But serendipitously, I came across two ladies who I guessed were Lao. We were traveling in opposite directions the first time we met in the bird sanctuary. Then as I climbed up the hill leading out of the bird sanctuary and back to the main path I caught up with them as they leisurely walked back to the monastery. They were both holding plastic bags, and although I didn’t notice it the first time I saw them, one of them was holding a large knife. They greeted me warmly, just as they had when I passed them in the bird sanctuary. And so I asked if they were, perhaps, out collecting mushrooms. And they were. The women showed me two bags full of mushrooms and told me they collect them every year. They assured me that they were safe and delicious. They were beautiful and looked like, and maybe were, oyster mushrooms.
Mushroom foraging has become a popular hobby in the US where mushroom clubs are mushrooming like crazy appealing to foodies and natural food lovers alike. According to the San Francisco Tribune, South East Asians are lovers of mushroom foragers in the United States and unfortunately they also account for about half of the mushroom poisonings reported each year. It seems that a common and safe SE Asian mushroom (paddy-straw) is almost identical to the ‘Death Cap’ mushroom, which I would suppose is appropriately named. Since the death cap mushroom does not exist in SE Asia, foragers are often fooled into thinking the deadly mushroom is safe. The mushrooms the women were collecting were NOT death caps, and although I was not about to eat them, I am almost certain they were safe.
After a bit of conversation with the women, they realized I was the teacher who had visited Wat Bhuddabhavana with my students. They invited me to the Wat and although I demurred, they insisted I come and have some water. Cleo and I walked down the hill, spoke briefly to a monk, got some water and went back to our walk.
I stopped to sit in the sun while Cleo lounged contentedly nearby. I read a bit, and took some pictures of the turtles sunning.
A favorite place for turtles and teachers
The pond where Cleo and I sat to get some sun
As we walked back to the car, I looked high and low for mushrooms and all I could find was this tree stump with some beginnings of fungi growing.
Can you see the small mushrooms growing?
