Nature's Compass Is Broken!

  There is an Old Wive's Tale that says if you are lost in the woods and need a quick compass, check for moss on a tree. According to this snippet of wisdom, moss will always be found growing on the north side of a tree.  Hence, if you find moss and the direction north, it is an easy task to find all other directions.  Face north, right hand will be east, left will be west and your back will be south.  You will still be lost but you will know your directions even though you will look rather peculiar! Yep... this is easy.  Except here on the Bayou.  Here, moss grows anywhere it pleases.  North, south, east, west, somewhere in between, on top, beneath...anywhere is fair game.  So, that said, don't trust Bayou moss to get you out of the woods.  It ain't happening!  Yep, it would just be a wise move to pick up a compass if you are prone to lose your way when wandering about in the woods.  They are cheap and relatively reliable....unlike moss.

  I was out back cutting grass when I spied and old stump covered with the loveliest green moss.  The stump was indeed covered.  All sides...not just the north.  It was a good thing that I was not lost!  But, being one easily amused, I dropped to my knees to investigate the fuzzy stuff.  Ever since I was a youngster, mosses fascinate me.  There is just something magical about the way the stuff grows.  A lot of that idea was instilled in me by my Aunt Helen.  She always had a knack of seeing things a bit differently from the rest of the world.  A lot of folks, nowadays, would probably criticize her and say she wore "rose colored glasses".  Me?  I adored the lady and, to this day, I am glad she taught me how to find the beauty in even the most mundane things...like mosses.

  Not many folks ever get "up close and personal" with mosses, algae and lichens.  These things are all lumped together by most folks and are totally overlooked as things of beauty.  In my eyes, they are all perfectly magnificent! 

  While on my knees photographing the moss, I was able to actually see what others miss.  This clump of moss had its spore capsules ready to burst open and spread its mossy self around the stump.  Mosses do not bloom like plants but reproduce by making spores.  In the picture, the little stalked things that resemble some weird flowers are actually the spore capsules.  They shoot the tiny spores out into the air and life begins anew.  It was a rather interesting find.  

  If I could give one bit of advice to anyone interested, it would be to "get out there and look at the world around you."  When you start to really look for things, you will actually "see" what you have been missing. There are so many things that just get overlooked during our hectic days....interesting things....magical things.  Things that Aunt Helen would have found beautiful...just like I do.