Specimens

It was deserted and quiet except for the distant sound of birds and insects. The ground was damp and you could still see tiny droplets of water on the moss. Since it was a long weekend, we went on a quick hike at Big Basin Park where the tallest tree reached a height of 293 feet!

We wanted to celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary somewhere special but not too far from home so I opened Google maps and picked a random spot. The great thing about San Francisco is that it’s close to national and state parks to visit. You could drive an hour outside of the city and find yourself in the middle of a forest.

I’ve seen mushrooms in the wild before but not as diverse as it was there. I have no idea what they’re called but made a mental note to take a foraging class one of these days. Every few feet, we’d stop and see a fresh group of mushrooms growing on the side of a fallen tree. It reminded me so much of this game called Samorost—otherworldly and surreal.

I was surprised that we almost had the place to ourselves despite it being a national holiday. The stars have aligned for us.