March 19, 2010

Soft Cushions of Moss



Yesterday, when I was out in the "back 40" (my nickname for a small swath of land to the west of my house, which I mow only once a year) pruning the apple tree there, I happened to notice intensely green cushions of moss growing on an outcrop of rock. Most of the rock around here is granite, but this rock is worn is such a way as to make me think it might be a different type; it also has quartzite showing in it here and there. The color is a deep rich black; I don't know if this is caused by minerals in the rock, or tiny lichens. The dark color makes a strong contrasting background for the soft bright rounds of moss, looking like small pillows, inviting a gentle stroking touch.


4 comments:

  1. The moss is so seductive. And even the slight difference of scale in these two images makes for a different feeling. They remine me a bit of the type of cactus, Mammalaria (sp?) I've been drawn to in the SW.

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  2. Julie, I looked up mammilaria cactus and see why this moss reminds you of its bulbous forms. I don't know, though, if we can feel that we are compelled to touch the cactus as we are the moss. At any rate, the feel of each would be very different.

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  3. Altoon, I looked at this rock and thought about it, and I don't know if it's typical Waits River "dirty marble" or if it's Waits River bedrock that's been melted and transformed by contact with the molten granite -- I'd have to see it closer, bang a piece off it. Dunno. Gorgeous background for those greens, anyway!

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  4. Thanks for the ideas on what this rock might be. I'd never heard of "dirty marble" before; great name.

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