A Lunchtime Walk on the Path - Soothing Nature

I find when I get anxious at work, or when it gets a little too much, I like to go for a walk on the path around the campus - it is a 1-mile pathway through some nice undergrowth, and wild areas in the north of Toronto. I noticed today after about 20 minutes, I felt calmer and my thoughts were much smoother, and less scattered and rushing. Nature works for my ADHD!

Here are some pictures that I took:


Bracket Fungus - Polypore.


Unknown Gilled Mushroom.


Wild Grapes - tart and tangy.


Poison Hemlock.

Socrates was executed by being made to drink a potion of poison hemlock.

"Socrates' death is described at the end of Plato's Phaedo. Socrates turned down the pleas of Crito to attempt an escape from prison. After drinking the poison, he was instructed to walk around until his legs felt numb. After he lay down, the man who administered the poison pinched his foot. Socrates could no longer feel his legs. The numbness slowly crept up his body until it reached his heart. Shortly before his death, Socrates speaks his last words to Crito: "Crito, we owe a rooster to Asclepius. Please, don't forget to pay the debt." Asclepius was the Greek god for curing illness, and it is likely Socrates' last words meant that death is the cure—and freedom, of the soul from the body. Additionally, in Why Socrates Died: Dispelling the Myths, Robin Waterfield adds another interpretation of Socrates' last words. He suggests that Socrates was a voluntary scapegoat; his death was the purifying remedy for Athens’ misfortunes. In this view, the token of appreciation for Asclepius would represent a cure for the ailments of Athens."

Poison Hemlock


Aster.


Unknown Berry.


Unknown Berry.


Slightly Out Of Focus Grasshopper.


Immature Dryad's Saddle - very tasty and edible at this stage, or so I have read.


Oyster Mushrooms - Think I'll take some and have them for dinner sometime this week!


Artist's Conk - You can use a twig to gently draw on the white underside of this polypore, and it looks like you have drawn on it with a graphite pencil. Natives of North America made quite an art-form of this, and you can find many current examples for sale on the web.


Artist's Conk.


Artist's Conk.


Oyster Mushrooms.


Oyster Mushrooms.


Oyster Mushrooms.


Unknown - possibly partially decayed Dryad's Saddle.


Oyster Mushrooms.


Common Inkcap - I've posted about this in greater detail before.


Common Inkcap.


Snail Shell.


Cattail Reeds (Typha latifolia) - Fenlander has made Cattail pollen bread.


Cattail Reeds (Typha latifolia) - Owen has made cattail mats.


Cattail Reeds (Typha latifolia) - Make a Cattail duck toy, and look at Jon's nice Cattail woven mats.


Unknown gilled mushroom, growing in pine litter.


Forget the name of this wonderful looking fungus.


Unknown, amazing colouring, firm, growing on dead wood.


Will try to find out what this is - such a nice looking fungus.

I had a great walk, looking forward to what the rest of September and the coming Autumn brings...

Cheers,

Mungo

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