Likin' the Lichen

A mushroom walks into a bar, and tries to pick up on a cute lady mushroom. When his efforts were rebuffed, he says, protestingly, "Why not? I'm a real Fun-gi (fun guy)."

Sorry about the corny joke, but that's the mood I'm in right now. I'm home sick with a cold and double eye infection, so I'll blame it on the virus :)

When we walked into Hidden Pond, yesterday, and heard the topic was "fungi," I won't say I jumped for joy. Mushrooms and lichen weren't exactly on my list of "top 10 things to learn about."

(P.S. For those of you who think homeschooing is about controlling your childrens' curriculum, or avoiding the evil public schools, it's really not. It's more an excuse to pursue your own interests, and experience the joy of learning together with your favorite little people).

But I underestimated the mystique of this particular type of flora. After a brief power point presentation, Mike had us trodding through the woods in search of specimens.

Each kid was given plastic gloves and a container, and it was so much fun trying to find samples of the different "treasures." We learned about the different types of moss, lichen, mushrooms, and mycelium. Did you know that mushrooms are actually fruiting bodies of mycelium? Had you actually ever heard of mycelium? Me neither.

After our adventure, we returned to the lodge, where field guides were obtained, and identification attempted. I loved how Mike treated the kids like colleagues. He gave Audrey a field guide, and asked her opinion of the type of moss she had found. I was busy trying to keep Alyssa happy, but my friend Stacy was great about helping Audrey in her scientific research.

The next experiement was, "will the turtles eat the mushrooms" We attempted many varieties, (I think my favorite is called"witches' butter" ) , and tried to see if there was a difference between male, female, or baby turtles, in mushroom preference. The verdict: none of the turtles liked the mushrooms. (possible hypotheses: we didn't present the varieties of mushrooms that turtles typically eat? indoor turtles develop more discerning tastes?)

Did you know that turtles can eat poisonous mushrooms that would kill humans? Apparently the early American settlers, wondered why the Native Americans didn't eat the turtles, and were informed that the turtles ate the poisonous mushrooms, making them toxic to humans.

Oh, and turtles really are fascinating. Female box turtles will spend their lives in a radius the size of a football field. Male box turtles will wander a greater radius. Females mate once every three years. Once they've mated, they will lay a clutch of 6-8 eggs, once a year for three years. Once the female turtle at Hidden Pond has been bred, she is released back into the park, to lay her eggs.

(Sorry if the science lesson is boring you. I once again, blame the virus, and my subsequent lack of interest in anything else at the moment).

The girls enjoyed petting the turtles. For Alyssa, who really doesn't enjoy our Hidden Pond adventures much, (she'd rather be home dancing to her favorite tunes in a "pitty dwess"), this was the highlight of the day!

It's interesting to me that I was never much of a nature buff as a child, much more an urbanite. I preferred the hustle and bustle of city life, and often felt lonely in the middle of nowhere. My parents both love nature, and taught us to value nature walks, and Audrey's enthusiasm for the natural world has awakened a curiosity and appreciation in me that I've really enjoyed. I'm so glad we live somewhere with so many opportunities to appreciate the splendors that God has created for us.