Vive la difference! Or not.

Even fungi seem to be overwhelmed by the ceaseless deluge. On another wet walk I found only two. 

The little umbrella on the left  was lurking in the shelter on a hedge, its slim ivory leg encircled by a tutu of delicate gills, the whole structure appearing too fragile to survive more than a day or so.

On the other hand, the rugged bracket fungus (right) has been attached to a fallen tree for years now, each season's growth adding another contour to its corrugated surface. Shiny with the wet (and note the  raindrop on my lens) this robust organism is harder and more durable than the log it's living on.  As long as there's nourishment in the wood it can carry on growing for years to come.

When I studied the images of these two contrasting 'shrooms I noted how the descriptive terms I reached for seemed to reflect traditional gender stereotypes. Who wouldn't see these two  as "typically" feminine/masculine: the floaty fragility of a dewy young ballerina versus the ruggedness of a tough old woodsman? (Ignoring the fact that ballet requires almost super-human strength and an outdoor existence may be jeopardized by risk and hard living.)

Easy though it is to fall into the trap of gender stereotypes, for us as human beings they seem to be dissolving. We can be trans-, cis- (remaining in our birth-assigned gender) or non-binary/gender neutral now. with a whole spectrum of different sexual preferences across that.   Looking back to my own teenage angst at the expectation that I would morph from a scruffy tom-boy into a socially acceptable young woman wearing make-up and high heels, I think that the current fluidity with regard to gender is a terrific development. That's not to say it's ever easy for everyone who is confused about who or what they are but at least it means we can see a young man  wearing a skirt and another  young person  coming out as transgender.

(Where fungi are concerned it's a much more complicated picture. I once blipped a mushroom said to have 28,000 distinct sexes.)

If you haven't pledged yet, please do. If you have, please consider adding some more. The axe is poised and if it drops there will be  NO MORE BLIP. Thank you.