A blessed day it is to share with Steemians from all over the world.

I am truly grateful for this platform, 

as I feel there is opportunity to share some  things of true value.  

We can share hope, grand perspectives,

possibilities, beauty, living examples, 

awareness, skills, insights, inspiration and empowerment.  

 ~~*~~ I find it especially rewarding to uplift people 

by sharing my gratitude for life. ~~*~~

In participating in the SteemitPhotoChallenges (my most recent submission),

I got re-inspired to share some of my photography, much of which has never been seen.

I've taken tens of thousands of photos which remain in my archives

Keeping audience unto themselves.

I will be sharing more posts of my journey through photography,

likely sharing few words,

allowing the images to speak for themselves.

My Gift of beauty to you today is mushrooms!!  

All of these mushrooms grow at the @gardenofeden in Texas.

There are new varieties appearing all the time.

I share here but a few of the many:

Smooth and silky, cupped, velvet-like top, with soft and delicate, gills on the bottom.

I found these mushrooms already hard and dry, 

having grown in layers out of old dead stump, one upon the other.

Brilliant orange, spongy mushrooms, stacked on top of each other at the base of a  living tree.

A light and fragile mushroom about 2" tall; the cap the size of a quarter.

I believe this mushroom to be the same as those growing in stacked formation above--

very gnarly and dimpled in the center of the cap, adorned with a white brim.

These slightly hairy mushrooms grow in clusters.  

These were found at the base of a tree.  

Their caps are about as large as the size of a push pin.

A very firm, round mushroom growing close to the ground.

I have seen them grow to several inches in diameter.

This one has a green cling-on!

It's almost as if the mushroom grows too big for its flaky, tan-ish outer coating,

often splitting at the top in interesting designs.

I have seen this kind of mushroom with a tree of life looking shape on top!

A woody mushroom... in both texture and hardness--with little to no stem.

These golden, globby, oddly shaped mushrooms were firm and rather hard when I found them,

almost as if they had been shellacked.

Dime-size, lacy mushrooms growing from a decaying, humus-like stump, covered with rolly pollies (Wikipedia calls rolly pollies Armadillidiidae!  Almost as cute of a name as rolly pollies.)

A couple of different mushrooms growing in the same patch.

I'd like to call the one on the left a puffin!

A beautiful cluster of snow-white, teeny tiny mushrooms, 

the largest ones the size of a pinky fingernail.

These beauties grace our land after a good rain.  When they sprout, we watch them grow from a round button to an open saucer.  When the underside white membrane ruptures, exposing the delicate gills (also known as the lamella), we pick them.  Holding them stem down, we tap them gently on the cap to release the spores into the ground so they will regenerate more mushrooms.  Then we eat them!!  My favorite way is raw, straight from the ground.  These mushrooms have a firm texture almost like a portabello.  Their flavor is so fresh, clean and alive, I feel I am eating a flower!    These are hands down--the best mushrooms I have ever eaten.  

I live EVERyday with my feet on the earth.

I am barefoot from the moment I awaken in the mornings, 

until I awaken the following day.

I feel the life all around me,

so diligent in its breathtaking display.

I believe I owe much of my conscious awareness to nature,

Observing the purity and grace of the divine in full-spectrum abundance.

Mother nature is so telling in all her glory, 

the circle of life in perfect balance.

I am truly grateful to share my world with you!

Have a blessed day fellow Steemians.

NOTE:  I'm not well versed in the mushroom world, but am grateful for the opportunity to enjoy and share their beauty.  If anyone knows the names or attributes of any of these mushrooms, I would be delighted if you'd share your wisdom here.