Mushroom pair

Don’t these mushrooms look a bit like pale beige turtles? 🐢

Here’s why I was thinking about turtle shapes. It’s from Peter Hessler’s “Learning to ski in a country of beginners,” in the 21 June issue of The New Yorker. The Country referred to is China. Present-day China.

Many beginners wore accessories known as huju: protective gear. Huju consists of three large stuffed animals that can be strapped onto the knees and the backside, in order to cushion a fall. The most common huju comes in the form of green turtles, but there are also brown bears, pink pigs, and yellow SpongeBob SquarePants. There doesn’t seem to be any social stigma attached to wearing these things, which are common at ski resorts across China. At Wanlong, it wasn’t unusual to see a hip-looking snowboarder in his twenties, dressed in fashionable ski clothes, with a huge turtle on his butt.

What kind of huju is your favorite…for skiing or whatever else? Is it plush? 🐢

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