G.O.A.T, Fungi, and Flowers: A Search To The Land of Nature

I remember today, when I was a 12-year-old kid, which is so vivid to me. No phones, no television. I would wander around the neighborhood of our old town to make time pass without my recognition and not get bored of my grandmother’s repeated stories she always attempted to share with me “every day.” I was not a bad kid for not listening to her; I was just so bored of her stories. I am not sure if they are true. By the way, she talks about how they met my grandpa in the city, but my mother said once that her mother never visited a city because we were poor back then.

So, I always took a walk around the neighborhood, with my cousins beside me, to search for empty cans and plastics we could sell in the junk shop instead of listening to grandma. And always, by the time I got bored of our child-like adventure, I would sneak onto a little land lot owned by our strict neighbor, bordered by wide fences filled with goats and mud from rainwater, to entertain myself with their sounds and dirtiness.

As a child, I have always loved nature, in all ways it blooms and grows, and I was a number one fan of mud and fungi and cows and money leaves and makeshift coconut roofs. Around this month, I was very in awe of Hive, and after the onboarding, it was the time I understood the communities of Hive. While making more time for Hive, communities like Amazing Nature, Fungi Lovers, and We Are Moving amazed me because they make a good space for nature and the lovers of nature. I thought of having my own space in these communities and finding time to reconnect with nature again, even just in our garden or in the backyard. The important thing is I am with nature and will be.

To relive the childhood I once had, I took a walk around the area we currently moved into after the earthquake. There was a quite big and green lot in front of us where I could hear goats calling and dogs barking like it is a Brokeback Mountain. Never did I try to visit it because I did not know the folks living around, and I am a bit shy to encounter them. Still, I got out of the house and tried to search for some golds and greens in the area and brought my camera with me to freeze the moments. I will show you what I found.

Fungi, in reality, can be found everywhere, unless you live in a desert or in a very dehydrated town. But since they are little creatures that peep between strips of grasses, it takes a very keen eye to spot them on the ground or on the wall of a dead old tree. So if you are very passionate about fungi, and have formed love for this amazing nature, they will not hide completely but also not fully appear. They will call your presence, and when they are near around, you can feel them.

This one is a very tiny town of this type of fungus. This first fungus I found underneath an old tree, eating its bark, appears to be a Schizophyllum commune, based on Google, which I had to ask for help since I am not a fungi expert. What makes this fungi set apart from other fungi is its small, circle-shaped caps with split lines inside and gill-like corners on the underside that feast on decaying wood. It is one of the most widely distributed fungi around the world, almost like a universal fungi, that plays a relevant ecological role as a decomposer of dead wood and thrives in humid environments. In scientific context, Schizophyllum commune can survive long periods of dryness by becoming inactive on a timely basis and then return to life when moisture is available again. There are many of them on the bark, varying in size and almost looking like white pimples.

This fungi is familiar to me as I always used to see it in our makeshift garage full of unused wood and materials for construction. In fact, the one I found is feasting on construction wood which is not dead yet, but I guess the consistent raining in our town contributed to its existence. It is in a folded and irregular shape and is scientifically observed to feed on dead wood and help return nutrients to the soil in forest ecosystems. This one is said to be edible, but there should be an exact kind of this fungus species that is edible. Despite being appropriate for culinary use, it is more recognized for its importance to the ecological process.

This one is already familiar to you if you read my first blog about fungi. This is a species of Daldinia that perfectly shapes as a bump-like fungus, often identified with its reddish to brown or maroon colors on big barks. Just like other fungi, this one grows on dead bark, wood, or trees. I captured these photos on the same bark I shared last time, but these fungi are newborn ones. There are more of them now, unlike last time, and if you are ever wondering why the bark is still in our house, I put it outside just because. Nature is amazing, and I do not want to steal their “normal” in this world. Although they look like berries or seeds at first, they are actually fungal fruiting bodies that release spores to reproduce.

Moving on, I finally visited this ground in front of our house where the earthquake survivors once called this a home. Government tents and makeshift ones were installed here, but none of them can be seen now because the owner of the lot is greedy; he wanted them to leave the place. Now, goats, dogs, and this very green land are what you can only see, and houses from the far part are built, which I assume belong to the owners of these Greatest Of All Time animals.

The land is green and very healthy, with its abundant grasses that make the goats feast and fill their stomachs evenly. Coconut and mango trees are standing on the far right side, and bushes and weeds form on the other. If you look at the photos, you can see white houses. Just zoom in; they are container vans, the Bayanihan Village, home of the no-build-zone-affected people who currently reside in this village. They were prioritized after the earthquake when countless sinkholes and drifting land were observed, and they could not retrieve their homes.

I will show you some goat shots who were freezing when I took photos of them. I was guilty of not being able to talk in their language and explain what I was carrying and doing. They froze and got confused by the camera clicks, and I said sorry many times. It might sound weird, but my love for animals goes beyond normal interaction.

The older ones were feasting on the grasses while the only young one was doing its “mehhh” sound. I approached them individually, but the one with black fur on its head tried to kill me. Haha, not literally. I just do not know the word for their act of bumping their horns at humans. The little one was found entangled, and I could not help him because he was too young for me. But the owner removed him from captivity, and he then ran freely. He was really loud because he got confused and scared, I think, from the rope tightening on his limbs.

Another goat shot. They were eating grass, and I watched them with enjoyment. Aside from being intimidating with their horns, they are also funny when they run around and sway their bodies like children. I remember the past me when I was just a kid. There was a time I tried to gently caress my neighbor’s goat, but it tried to bite me. From then on, I did not try again to make that gentle act, or else I would get my fingers cut. But I know they would not really do it. I just did not find the courage again to try.

I stayed there for only 30 minutes because the goats were headed back home by the owner and his child. Mosquitoes were busy above my head, and some landed on my skin. I hate mosquito bites, hence I immediately headed home. Nature recharged me today, and it is good to be back with it after a busy adulting life. They are here every day, so I will keep coming back and try to learn their language.

Who knows, I can master it and be the G.O.A.T (the Greatest Of All Tries). Lol.