Fabulous Fungus

The Trees
The trees are coming into leaf
Like something almost being said;
The recent buds relax and spread,
Their greenness is a kind of grief.

Is it that they are born again
And we grow old? No, they die too,
Their yearly trick of looking new
Is written down in rings of grain.

Yet still the unresting castles thresh
In fullgrown thickness every May.
Last year is dead, they seem to say,
Begin afresh, afresh, afresh.
 by Philip Larkin

Yesterday I went walking in the woods with DS & DH & Ralph, the
black lab., me clutching my camera to capture some of the new
growth. We take the dog into the woods most days and I love
to see the changes to trees and plant life. The flowers of the wild
garlic have taken over from the violets, primroses and bluebells
and the trees are bright with new leaves, the ground overgrown
with ferns and greenery I couldn't put a name to.
I was intent on capturing the beauty of the new growth when DS
suggested I took a picture of some fungus growing on a rotting log.
My first reaction was to object  -it reminded me of death and was
the opposite of what attracted me but he pointed out that new life
depended on that death. It's Nature's way, God's way, Jesus' way.

 It was an interesting thought so I was soon looking out for more fungus
and have had great fun learning more about it on the wonderful 'net'
As in all creation there's not  just one kind of the species but thousands 
and there are appreciation groups all over the  country. The
Bracket Fungus  below was my prettiest find but  is just one of them:
click on the link to see many more beauties.

So now, far from seeing the dead wood as an eyesore I am eager
that it is allowed to stay on the forest floor. I found this article
that says Life-giving dead wood 'at risk' 
Happy Fungus hunting!

Postscript: A few hours after posting the above I was woken by a
familiar but unwelcome itchiness & tingling in my foot - between the 4th &
 little toes to be precise. It could only by foot fungus!  I've not suffered from
it for ages & it seemed such a coincidence that I looked for a meaning from it.
Am I dead wood? Not quite perhaps but like the dead wood I will have to die
 in order to live again.