Steemit Contest Changes My World - Literally

A couple of days ago @kus-knee of mundane art contest fame, asked me if I was going to submit a photo this week. As the topic is moss and lichen I said, probably not. I couldn't think of any photos off-hand that I had in my collection and, living close to the sea it wasn't likely that I would get the opportunity to take any new ones.

How wrong I was!

I went out for a walk this afternoon and was amazed to see that a lot of the trees, that line the avenues, have moss and/or lichen growing on their west side. What? Gasp? How can that be when they are so close to the sea.

Out came my phone.

It was a grey day so the colours aren't very vibrant but I wanted to give you a taste of the variety of mosses and lichens on my doorstep that I had no idea were there.

Without the photography contest I would have walked right past them as I must have done hundreds of time before. But suddenly I was seeing the world differently.

Then to cap it all . . .

I live in a mews property so we have big garage doors (used to be the stables) and on those doors we have 2 hay mangers which I plant up every summer. I haven't gotten around to removing last summer's plants and when I came home from my walk I noticed some beautiful vibrant green moss growing underneath one of the dead plants (see top picture).

Talk about right on your doorstep!

All these winter days I had missed this.

I'm humbled by how this little Steemit contest has literally changed my world. Today I saw what was always there, but that I hadn't noticed before.

And . . . as this this wasn't enough, my curiosity is well and truly piqued . . . will the moss and lichen still be on the trees in summer or is this a winter thing?

We'll have to wait a few months to find out!

^{Be sure to click on the images to view them full screen!}

Thank you to @kus-knee for the weekly #mundaneart challenge and for giving me the opportunity to open my eyes!
Thanks to @kalemandra for the daily color challenge.