Mushrooms

I am

seated in the living room sofa. The door, the windows are open, and the clean clear air spills into the room.

Music, slow, steady, one of  last decade’s hits. Ronan Keating’s remix ‘When you say nothing at all’ on Capital FM. That station is hoarse. Don’t know why, the reception at my place is not so good. But, that is the one I want.

But, wanted to tell you of the sun kissing the leaves outside. Gold light on the deep green of leaves. Banana sail fronds lazily flapping in the skies. Peace, quiet. Except for the high voices of happy children playing.

A day for god’s own creation. True, I am feeling good. Very, very good.

Nothing like a long night asleep in my lover’s arms to wipe out a long grumpy day. To make all things right.

Soon, very soon, I will be going out to roam the city. Oh, he is off on his own. Sometimes it is better not to ask….. Spilling too many secrets here, aren’t I?

Bet I have intrigued you.

Want to share photos I took today. Oh, they are quite mundane. Down to earth, like me. But, I will share them with a little story about the people here, where I grew up.

These are pictures of the ground. Yes, of the soil.

Look closely, you will see some tiny white buds that have pushed out and mushroomed into the air. Yes, they are mushrooms. Check them out here.

And, a closer look.

Those little white umbrellas grow in a single night. So, it is like one day, they are not there. The next day, there is a carpet of them.

Look at them closely. Discount the straw, and the green of the weed. They are the small umbrella like white things.

They are a delicacy. Yes. One of the things that I was taught to be edible. I remember as a child I would be called to the patch and encouraged to taste them. Fresh from being picked. You know, like pick one of the umbrellas and put in the mouth. Fresh, faintly mouldy taste that they have. Not unpleasant.
And, they make a soup that people swear by. They are also supposed to be part of portions (Yes, portion, like in Harry Potter], for medicinal use. Dont know which, exactly!

Now, according to local lore, no one is supposed to own them. And, one is not supposed to pass them by.

So, waking up in the morning, and walking along the road, if you find this over-night-growth, you are supposed to go back home, get a calabash, knock on your neighbours door to tell them and invite them, and then go back to collect the little white umbrellas. All in the neighbourhood are welcome.

I was able to get these pictures for a simple reason. The neighbour upon whose land this growth is is a grumpy old man. He would be seriously incommoded if one passed through his banana plantation. So, since this growth is near the village path, many people have seen it. But, they have all ignored it.

It is a studied insult, slap in the face.

But, we are all so cultured and well mannered, that none of us is going to talk about it, isn’t it? But, it did give me the photographs to remember this by…!

Hope your day is fine. Mine is fantastic.

gug

[just wanted to show you it is not all about the politicking, life, even in good old Uganda!]