Wild mushroom hunting with my brother!

I’ve always admired my big brothers closeness with nature. Its through his enthusiasm that I think I developed my own fondness for the untamed natural world. Gary’s the oldest of my three siblings, while the rest of us were chained to technology he was exploring earths bounty. Exploring and eating! Those are “jelly ears” down at the bottom of the post, an antioxidant rich woodland treat he’s always looking for. Its funny because he’s no computer wizard and I couldn’t forage food to save my life. I prefer it that way though, I like being able to say that most of what he knows about Facebook he’s learned from me and everything I know about picking mushrooms I’ve learned from him.

On this particular day we hiked a decent while, around six hours.. I wasn’t paying attention to my phones clock, so I only have post hike hunger and number of times I had to squat behind trees to pee for reference. I wore my brand new overpriced REI boots, of all the days for it to piss rain! We spent the better part of the hike off trail, trudging through streams and mud, searching for geodes. I have the fondest memory of my brother taking high ground, extending his walking stick for me to leverage myself up a steep hill. Its just a moment that stuck in my head. Its almost the perfect big brother and little sister metaphor now that I think of it.

Around the time of this adventure we both separately had a lot going on personally. I can feel that emotion when I look at the photos I captured that day. The mix of joy, turmoil, raw conversation and even the peaceful silence we shared. Photoshop helps too… that contrast! Sorry, I needed to break the tension a bit.

These photos were taken last summer and since then I’ve moved many miles away from my family. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve drifted past these images going through my computer, almost uploading them. I’m glad I finally did because more people should know how awesome my big brother is… with his massive antler collection that none of us know what he’s going to do with! Seriously it’s an absurd amount of antlers for one human to posses. I have to assume he knows something we don’t.

I’ve learned so many things from my brother. Sage wisdom that comes from living longer than I have and walking far more paths. It’s because of him that I’m able to see beauty in things others overlook and have an appreciation and more importantly a respect for nature. I hope that appreciation has come across in the images I’ve shared with you today. I feel content knowing they exist online for others to enjoy and that you can now understand their origin.

As always I appreciate you spending time with me today. I would also like to give a warm welcome to my new followers! I hope you have a fantastic rest of your day and I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.

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