Entangled with Fungi

Dale and I listened to the most amazing, mind-blowing, phenomenal non-fiction book about fungi during February on our car trips to and from Orange, MA. It's called Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures by Merlin Sheldrake. Highly recommended to anyone who has an interest in the natural world and wants to expand their worldview.

It's a revelatory and earth-shattering read, forcing us out of our preconceptions about the living world, and revealing how little we really do understand non-animate life. In addition, it's beautifully and poetically written, with outstanding, helpful metaphors.

Sheldrake describes the mycelial network of fungi as our planet's "ecological connective tissue", and a "living seam of sprawling, interlaced webs." He refers to fungi as ecosystem engineers, which "underwrite the regenerative capacity of the living world," and which contain "an ancient library of information" enabling fungi to re-model themselves as environments change. 

As "chemical wizards", they are VITAL partners in helping solve the ecological disasters and climate disruptions from human activity. We owe it to ourselves not to destroy them further.

Do yourself and the planet a favor and dive into this incredible read!