penelopelee

i went into the woods and found this:


monotropa uniflora. it's a flowering plant that has no chlorophyll and lives symbiotically with soil fungus to get its nutrients. i picked one and it turned black.


there was a shrew that was so busy rooting around for bugs that it didn't notice when i gently stroked it. it was the size of a quarter and the most frantic little animal i've ever seen.

i also saw a mushroom that didn't have a stalk and was covered in a super thick layer of goo, but i can't find it anywhere to identify it.

and then i sat under a waterfall and read nabokov's autobiography, speak, memory.

spoils from the trip: a 4 foot long, fully intact snake skin.

next time i'm going to bring my own camera.