Now that the elections are over we can return to more interesting news. Here's a roundup of recent happenings around Narberth:
And some old news: Link
Spring, Summer and Fall always pack interesting mycological surprises in Narberth. As many of our trees become aged, they fall prey to a variety of parasitic fungi. The buried stumps and rotting roots of long gone trees provide ample food supply for our local mushrooms.
Most are inedible, unpalatable, gastrointestinally painful, or flat out poisonous. A few are delicacies. Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of unicellular fungi living in the ground. As such, they appear only when a mysterious pattern of season, temperature, and rainfall match the hidden clockwork the fungus is anticipating. When the time is right, they appear almost overnight.
Unlike much of our local vegetation and insect life which can be manipulated by human development and our gardening tastes, mushrooms beat to their own drum. Only a handful of the many thousands of known varieties can be cultivated and eradication of the underlying fungus is infeasible.
Mushrooms recently seen in Narberth include:
Rounded Earthstar - The fungus that forms this mushroom probably hitched a ride in a bag of mulch. I discovered a patch of them in a flowerbed in late fall. The center is filled with spores which shoot out in a brown cloud when pressure is applied.
Red Stinkhorn - It rises from the dirt with an eye popping phallic shape and begins to ooze a noxious goo from its top. The smell of rotting flesh and feces attracts flies and other insects who become covered in its spores and fly them on to new locales. Think sweet nectar, pollen, and honeybees except substitute stinking goo, spores, and disease ridden flies.
Splash Cups - I've found these tiny splash cups on mulched beds through the Borough. About 1/4" - 1/8" in diameter they look like tiny bird's nests filled with eggs. The 'eggs' are actually little spore pods. Raindrops land in the cups and the force of their impact bounces the spore pods off to their new homes.
Hen of the Woods - A highly prized delicacy for many fungiphiles, it grows at the base of an oak tree that it has parasitized. Once entrenched it carefully manages its use of the tree's resources in an aim to keep it alive as long as possible. Deer and other wildlife are known to enjoy its earthy flavor.
Giant Puffball - Another delicacy that appears suddenly and grows to enormous size. When picked fresh it can be sliced and sauteed with spices and butter. When allowed to mature it becomes a delicacy for slugs. Eventually the spores inside dry out and are dispersed into the wind.
Big Laughing Gym - This brightly colored spectacle has also appeared suddenly on a number of Narberth lawns. In the wild it is known to grow only on rotting wood. I suspect, in this instance, that the wood is hidden under new sod. The origin and meaning of its common name is left as an exercise for the reader to discover.
In addition to these mushrooms I've captured above, I've seen many other choice edibles including Oyster mushrooms, Ringless Honey mushrooms, and Horse mushrooms. Have you found an interesting fungus growing somewhere in the Borough? Tell me about it! Since we live in a walking community, it isn't hard for me to wander over and take a look firsthand. Please don't use the information here when choosing to eat a wild mushroom. Mushroom identification is extremely tricky. Your death is not an improbable consequence of a poor choice.
I was walking Narberth's downtown today and I left with a sense of unease about the future of our business district. The storefronts of Hey Little Diddle, Mapes Card Shop, and a few other locations have been vacant for some time. Stein's and Tanaka Teien are closing. I worry about some of our anchor stores: American Family Market in particular. Over the past two years at least three former storefronts have been converted into offices.
We cannot stop change. However, I think our community needs to blaze its own path and not allow blind forces to forge it for us.
I've seen some promotion of a 'Shop Local' mantra though I am not confident it will have the needed impact. Who worries about these things in a way that can lead to positive things? our Mayor? business association? commercial landlords? I'm not sure.
Of course it is not all doom and gloom. Our business district remains vibrant, useful, and walkable. The openings of Ice Cafe, Cloth & Bobbin, and Aloha Style show that entrepreneurs still see potential here.
Beautiful, temperate weather combined with the extension of daylight savings time led to a super fun Halloween for everyone. From my vantage point on the 100 block of Conway Ave things were really buzzing.
We received a visit from well over 100 children and, due to our generosity with early guests, we were forced to raid the pantry for last minute trick-or-treatables so that none would leave empty handed. I never thought I'd be giving out boxes of Tic-Tacs.
I've heard that other parts of Narberth get a lot less foot traffic. My friends on Sabine and N. Narberth reported lots of extra candy remaining in their possession at the end of the night. Kids, take note. Next year, you need to scour the less frequented streets for their silver and gold.
There have been a few community forums and mailing lists created for Narberth over the past 10 years. None have really caught on. Why? I know that many Narberth residents spend a lot of time in front of their computers. I know that many Narberth residents care deeply about their community.
The Narblog is a moderated blog-format community area. It accepts no advertising. If you'd like to make a guest post, discuss a new topic or promote an event, email me. Feel free to register and use the comments area.
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