Jane~ Odd bed fellows

I begin by asking you a question...........

What is the difference between a mushroom and a toadstool or does fungus cover everything? I truly had no idea so to Google who inform me from a scientific perspective no difference its more to do with usage in common speech. Perhaps I should just use fungi which brings me into the realms of the fungus, fungi, funguses scenario. Oh all these questions just because of my recent discovery of two exceptional books.

The first book is Things Remembered and Things Forgotten. Ten translated short stories by Kyoko Nakajima an award winning Japanese writer. I read this book and immediately started to re-read just in case I'm missed any tiny detail.

The ten stories pervade an air of ghostliness bubbling under the surface. The living speak to the dead and the dead speak to the living creating an intense Japanese mood. I felt immersed in each story culminating in a delightful insight into an enchanting culture. One story called When my Wife was a Shitaki has the most poignant ending which will catch your heart strings and remain there. The Shitaki being a major character.

The second book is the long awaited paperback edition of Entangled Life: How fungi make our Worlds, changes our minds and shape our futures by Merlin Sheldrake. At its core is the behaviour of mycelium and fungus. It illustrates the problem solving brain of mycelium. How faced with a seemingly unsolvable problem, underground this intelligent 'network', often covering miles, can solve situations beyond the abilities of Humans. These plants are so advanced they use electrical signalling to communicate with each other. Truly amazing.

We're fascinated by space travel with its possibilities yet beneath out feet lies a "planet" which could change the World, Science and our Lives.

Perhaps the feeling of Autumn in the air has enriched my reading of these two books. I'll certainly think a little differently when digging my garden...........