The Beauty of Moss

An ancient stump, covered in moss and kinnikinnick.

Normally this time of year, my attention is caught by spring flowers and the crazy antics of the birds.  But this year has been so cold and rainy that the flowers, though still beautiful, have been a side-note to my weather complaining.  When the skies have opened up in a flood of rain, it is hard to enjoy blossoms--especially as I watch them get drowned or knocked about by hail.

I was surprised to realize what HAS captured my attention this spring.  We went camping on the Oregon Coast for Spring Break and I couldn't stop talking about the moss!  When Brian finally joked that he didn't want to hear another comment about moss, I realized that moss is the thing catching my eye.  And how could it not, given that this year has been ideally suited to it's needs.  In Bandon, OR where we camped, moss dripped off the trees, clung to roots and branches and covered the forest floor in an emerald green cloak.  Walking through the woods it felt as though a soft blanket was delicately covering everything.  I felt the need to be quiet, and found the moss covered woods strangely soothing.

The Oregon coast is a wet place.  It is misty, foggy and rainy--frequently all three at the same time!  So it is no wonder that moss has found a perfect home deep in the coastal pine forests.  We have camped there many times before and I'm familiar with the area's native plants.  Many of them are our native plants too.  But on this particular trip, the moss really stood out for me.  We hiked up a little trail behind our campspot and I felt like we entered into a fairy land of emerald green, moss covered forest. It was beautiful!

A trail through the mossy woods

And upon returning home, my eyes were opened to the moss we live in.  I usually don't have much patience for moss.  I've loved it in certain garden situations, but spend my spring lawn energy on trying to get the moss out of our grass (a common problem here as even the sunniest garden spots struggle with low light during our winter months).

As we drove home from the Oregon Coast, I couldn't help but notice--now that I was seeing moss-- that we too have moss that drips from trees and carpets the forest floor.  Maybe not quite as much, or quite as thick, but clearly, we live in a wet place too!

I'm still not loving our very cold, wet spring.  I'm still complaining about the weather even knowing what a futile complaint that is.  And I'm still hoping that our summer will be hot enough to bake out all of the moss growing in our lawn and gardens (and sidewalks, and rooftops, and siding.....).  But for right now, I've decided that moss is beautiful.