Old ladies summer a term used in Estonia is the same as Indian summer. There are many explanations why we attribute warm spell of weather in early fall to old ladies - some explanation given by men, some by women, some by cynics, some by romantics. Doesn't matter how you explain it, it feels oh so nice.

This year old ladies' summer kicked in right after the official start of autumn. We gladly put away our gloves and scarfs and umbrellas and made business to go outdoors and get a good fix of vitamin D.

Sun does wonders among Estonians: our regular exchange of dead serious nod upon greeting was accompanied by a SMALL talk about the weather. You could even spot shadow of smile on our faces!

But after couple sunny days my Mom started to complain that now it is too dry for mushrooms to grow! A reason to frown, I guess.

You see, Estonians are accustomed to go to woods and pick mushrooms and berries in late summer and early autumn. We may have become urbanized and sophisticated but we still nurture gatherer inside of us. For Estonians, it is almost a sin not to accept what Mother Earth (Emake Maa) or Father Sky (Taevaisa) offers us. It is a ritual that MUST be performed.

Since harvest of berries and mushrooms is hugely dependent on rain we have discerned a type of rain the most suitable for it. And hence we call it mushroom rain (seenevihm). It is certainly not the one where mushrooms or dogs and cats are falling (in Estonian we say "to pour from beanstalk'). It is just very fine, not too hard, yet even and steady rain - almost velvety to the skin! After couple days of "mushroom rain" people surely get an itch to take a trip to woods.

After rainy August, allegedly there's bounty of mushrooms this year.  Yet 1 hour yesterday in my Mom's favorite woods resulted for me in 1 edible mushroom and 1 tick which I was lucky to catch later.

Still, it was nice there under those trees, so peaceful and calm and somehow so cozy. All my worries were left behind once I reached the trees and all my attention was directed only to "here and now". I was practicing mindfulness by old Estonian way.

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