I went out mushrooming today. Learned from my brother’s dad Ross about looking for pine mushrooms. Once we got close to his spot, he showed me how you pick up some dirt and stuff, rub it in your hands and breath it in. It gets rid of anything else you might smell, without realizing it you might hold smells from home. There’s creeks where there wasn’t a few weeks ago. I practiced using my eyes, ears, and nose more to be more aware of my surroundings. It helped me find my first few Pine Mushroom buttons. Ross found some first and showed me how to pick them.

I should have kept recording a bit longer. He explained how you pull the roots off then drop them back in, and tap the top of the mushroom so spores fall back in the whole. Then cover it up so you keep finding mushrooms in the same place every year. I feel really happy being able to practice that. It felt really great when I found some. You can tell where you might be able to find some too by seeing where deer were searching. It is so beautiful how we learn from each other. How the mushrooms take in that scent and taste of the trees it grows by. I enjoy the sounds of picking, and how the mushrooms feel. I would like to ask those that go out to pick to remember to only take what you need, and take care to leave the land as you found it. Take care of her the way she takes care of us. Always remember the love she gives. Remember it especially if any sort of development is proposed, that might destroy it, how lucky we are to be able to go out there and have that nurturing.

Kúkstumkacw!