I have been running for about 3 years now. I regularly run on the same path and the experience always brings me peace and clarity, energy and growth. I see the red cardinal in the tree, the squirrels chasing one another through the forest, the wild flowers growing and changing with the passing seasons. Over time, I notice there is a cycle of life, an order to everything on this path.
Mid summer, I get excited when I see the first of the muscadines growing on the vine towards the end of my running path. I look forward to stopping and grabbing a few, to eat on the spot. They are an exquisite treat and they fill me with joy. At first, there are just a few ripe ones. I know patience means that the heat of the sun and just enough rain will give way to vines full of ripe grapes late in the summer. In the meantime, it is a treat to enjoy a handful of these sweet, juicy grapes during my run. I save the seeds too, thinking that once I get enough living space, I will plant the seeds and grow some vines.
Late August, the vines are bursting with ripe muscadines and I fill a bag of them to bring home. I find a recipe that other foragers have shared on how to make homemade muscadine jam. I boil the grapes in a pot with water, sugar, a little lemon and magically, the grapes break down and thicken. I strain the skins and seeds out and the color of this jam in the jar is the most beautiful magenta. I can’t wait for it to cool down enough so I can taste it. My son makes amazing sourdough bread and so I take a slice of it and spread on fresh butter and my jam. The taste is beyond satisfying…it is a special kind of goodness to feel connected to where this jam came from and the beauty of the growing cycle. It is, in the words of Sadhguru, where I can see the “the way of things with the sweetness of emotion”, the true beauty and simplicity of what bounty exists in our world.
The mushrooms are the same, but they come much more often. I know many of the spots to look and I look forward with the same child like hope every time. The feeling never lessens or becomes expected. It makes rainy days sweeter too as I know that rainfall and humidity bring mushrooms. My favorite are the oyster mushrooms. They grow on a fallen log hidden in the trees. I run till I find the spot and then I climb through the thorny vines and piles of brush and leaves, hoping that I don’t come upon a resting snake. Many times, I am rewarded with the grayish, tan oyster mushrooms layered in tiers growing on the log. Sometimes, I find just enough to make a little appetizer. I slice them up and toast them in a little olive oil and add a little cream, parmesan and truffle and then layer them on fresh bread. Other times, I find enough to make a mushroom lasagne.
It is hard to explain the gift of clarity, connection and fullness that comes from learning the lessons of the natural world. “Just as fruit on a tree must develop into fullness following a certain order of natural events, so too is there a natural order of self-realizing that leads up to winning your own life and living it” I connect and feel at one with the natural world, there is no going back.