Transforming "Spiritual Warfare": Day 17 (Kansas)

Coronado Heights, Lindsborg. Historic landmark & natural platform of Dakota Formation sandstone.
Jim Turner / Courtesy Photo, found here.

I have a soft spot for Kansas. My father & I 'discovered' Kansas together while hauling my broken self, the cats & all my worldly possessions across the country -- from the end of a life that would never be, to the beginning of a life that now is. We fell in love with the prairie grasslands & the quirky roadside attractions. It was a journey full of 'if onlys' & 'wish we coulds' & 'too bad we can'ts.' We promised each other that we would return to Kansas someday & visit all the places we could not see with felines & moving truck in tow. I need to give him a reminder.

While wandering across the internet, I discovered yet another  Kansas landmark to be added to our list of 'must see' locales: Mushroom Rock State Park. 

Travel this road:

Photo credit:  Kansastravel.org

Until you reach this sign:

Photo credit:  Kansastravel.org

And there you will find this rock:

Mushroom Rock. Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks & Tourism.

"...Kansas' smallest state park - Mushroom Rock State Park. The 5 acre park is about 2 miles south of the highway on dirt roads that can be very bad after a rain. The park is surrounded by farms and you can usually hear cattle lowing nearby... There are Picnic tables and a rough toilet."  kansastravel.org

Yes! I can't stop finding reasons to love Kansas. This is why it is so wrong that certain people with nefarious agendas put Kansas under their prayer war spotlight yesterday. I like Kansas the way it is & I don't think a theocracy is going to improve it any.

Lucky me, the fungi visited my dreams again. I awakened from my slumber with a primarily textural memory of the mushrooms present. A peek at the Kaw Valley Mycological Society's website confirmed my suspicions: Calvatia craniformis. It does not have a common name, but you can glean from the Latin name that is generally resembles a (human) skull. Apparently this is the most commonly gathered puffball in Kansas & very popular on dinner tables throughout the state. I did not know this (!). In fact, initially I was annoyed because I had been saving my images of this mushroom for a special dedication to the Moon & I didn't want to have to use one for this post. 

Then it dawned on me... these mushrooms are actually talking to me in my dreams. What am I grumbling about?

Like any good puffball, they are saprobic, so they fit perfectly into my plan. There is an ocean of those quirky little cranuim-shaped mushrooms out there in those gorgeous grasslands. May they retain sanity across the land & keep Kansas free.