The Mundane as Art Round Nine: Moss and Lichen! A Challenge via @kus-knee

Time for another episode in in @kus-knee's ongoing "Mundane as Art" challenge-- this week we take on the topic of "Moss and Lichen."

Moss grows pretty much anywhere a bit of moisture gathers

Although I have lived in damp northern climates for most of my life, I will still say that this stuff is pretty much everywhere. I have seen colorful lichens on rocks at Joshua Tree National Park which is in the California high desert; I have seen mosses and lichens both in the heat and humidity of Houston, Texas.

Moss was everywhere, growing up as a kid in Denmark.

Now I live in the US Pacific Northwest and mosses and lichens are everywhere, here.

Most people look at moss as "invasive green patches" that can pretty much take over a lawn, especially in shady areas. It can be quite a nuisance, and requires a lot of cleanup.

Quite often, we have to remove moss from our roof. At our old house, the roof was made from wooden shingles, which was a particularly fertile ground for the growth of moss-- a single season could send me on the roof to scrape off some 200lbs (90kgs) of moss.

A thick cushion of moss shooting up in one of the cracks in our driveway

If left unattended, small varieties of moss will even start growing from wooden surfaces-- one picture shows the beginning of moss formation on the shady part of the railing to our back deck.

Of course, moss can also be quite visually beautiful. Some of the "pillow moss" that would cover the ground in the birch woods in Denmark made the view look almost surreal; like a fairy tale.

It is precisely the beauty of these little plants that makes them an interesting subject for "The Mundane as Art."

Lichen (and a tiny bit of moss) growing on our Rowanberry tree

Lichens are very colorful and varied, too. And here in the Pacific Northwest, widespread. They grow on tree trunks, they grow on rocks, they hang like long beards from trees in the rain forests nearby.

Yes, we have rain forests here. About 90 minutes from where I live, we have the Hoh Rain Forest, where as much as 14 feet (420cm!) of rain falls per year... and that results in an extraordinary showcase of moss growing on trees.

The Hoh Rain Forest is quite famous as a tourist destination, and is considered one of the "Seven Natural Wonders" of the state of Washington.

The photos in this blog are all taken in the course of a couple of days, all in our garden or within a few hundred feet of our house. 

Hope you enjoyed this "The Mundane as Art" post!

Animated banner created by @zord189

 (As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)
Created at 180124 01:01 PST