LADYBUG TATTOOS

Mrs. Trowbridge was very traditional. When something new came along, she was reluctant to embrace it. Case in point, the time when a tattoo trend swept through the rain forest...ladybugs were having their shells repainted in different colors, with new designs "tattooed" on. The trend began in the Hoh Rain Forest to the north and spread south to Huckleberry Hollow in the Quinault Rain Forest. The ladybug tattoo parlor that opened in Huckleberry Hollow was called Madam Lucy's Ladybug Tattoo Parlor (above).

One of my fondest rain forest memories ever was the summer of 2005 when I trekked into that place deep in the Quinault Rain Forest where Huckleberry Hollow was once located. I instantly recognized this mossy mound from Mrs. T's journal. The resemblance is so striking, I'm reasonably sure that this is the exact spot where Madam Ladybug opened her tattoo parlor so many years ago. The fungus growths are called shelf fungus (Ganoderma applanatum). The underside of the fungus has a pleasant scent which may carry a distance from the fungus.