which effectively turns our bodies into toxic waste. And what does the rotting? Fungi! At least in part. My mind turns always back to the mushrooms. Te minister is done with his words of comfort, the casket
has been lowered, the family has tossed handfuls of dirt into the grave. As a finale, the attendant from the funeral home starts unceremoniously yanking, one by one, the ribbons tethering a bouquet of purple and white Mylar star balloons to a leg of the shade canopy. Besides suppressing my reaction to the jarring aggression with which he performs his ceremonial duties, it’s all I can do to not call out: “You’re littering, you know.” I didn’t, I wouldn’t. It would be in extremely poor taste. Tree hours later, the crowd is gone, the grave is filled, I’m back in cargo shorts and boots, and the tires of my car are
mashing little piles of dirt on the lane where they loaded off the backhoe as I park almost exactly where I’d parked earlier. Te grave is adorned with a bouquet of real flowers and a temporary name plate. I approach the row of pines. It takes me no time at all to find the morel. In my usual fashion, I kneel and plant a kiss on it before harvesting, then cut as close to the ground as possible so as not to waste any of it. I look around for another half hour, carefully, among the pines, and darned if it’s not the only one in the whole row. Morels are more frustrating than cats. Walking back to the car, I content myself with the thought that overall, I’ve found 11 morels today, not a bad haul. As I approach the grave, an unavoidable inspiration arises and I cannot ignore it. I kiss the morel once more, and then place it carefully on top of the flowers.
Late Shift at the Foxfire Diner
30 FUNGI Volume 14:4 Fall 2021
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