How did we get to the January already?!?! I feel as though the days evaporated into the time-space continuum and here we are now on February 1st. Thank you to everyone who was able to make the time to offer us their pictures of moss and/or lichen!

I love Mary’s creativity in referring to this as a “Lichen Village”, it really inspires the imagination and remind us that all things are part of a community.




More from the Shrieking Lichen Pit By IDV Norfolk England UK Jan 2023 https://inexplicabledevice.blogspot.com/
lichen, any of about 15,000 species of plantlike organisms that consist of a symbiotic association of algae (usually green) or cyanobacteria and fungi (mostly ascomycetes and basidiomycetes). Lichens are found worldwide and occur in a variety of environmental conditions.
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “lichen”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 21 Dec. 2022, https://www.britannica.com/science/lichen. Accessed 1 February 2023.

Mostly Moss…








I’ve been to Japan many times but one of my favorite memories is when I was honored to stay at my friend Keiko’s house and her dad showed me his lovely tsubo-niwa (a small courtyard garden). When he showed me the tweezers he uses to pluck out rogue grass I had a funny thought; in Japan they favor the moss and not the grass and in the United States they favor the grass and not the moss. Personally, I’m with the Japanese on this. I prefer moss and clover over to big plots of lawn grass.
Here’s one of my favorite videos about the art of tsubo-niwa by NHK World Video:
Tsubo-niwa: Life Enhanced by Quintessential Spaces Language: English, Japanese, Chinese, Espanol Runtime: 28mins
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/ondemand/video/2029065/?
In closing, I’d like to thank Lisa Troute for providing us with this interesting article about moss itself.
The Many Meanings of Moss: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/03/the-many-meanings-of-moss?cmpid=email-hist-inside-history-2022-0102-01022023&om_rid=58020d8ae1f1e8bc8e1d99bbd88cbfce9d1d1a142b3954bba64b94e6bf720408&~campaign=hist-inside-history-2022-0102
Thank you to everyone that participated in this month’s photo submission request! It’s not a competition, you all have my love and gratitude!
Next up:
Ferns and/or Unexpected Blooms
Due: February 28th
To be posted on: March 1st
The Fine Print: Photo Submissions Guidelines
Email to: natureledlife@gmail.com Subject line: Photo Submission for [month] (Multiple months of photos in one email is fine.) Image: Attached as a .JPEG or .PNG file preferred. Captions each picture: Subject in the photo (if known), State/Providence & Country, Date (optional). Your name as you want it to appear, Your blog link (if you have one.)
Feel free to add any interesting notes about a picture. I love interesting stories behind things! Let me know if it’s just for ‘my eyes only’ or if I can share any part of it with your photo. Pictures must be your own or you have permission from the Photographer to share it. All copyrights belong to their respective owners. This is a free, fun, community site about nature. Non-commercial and ad free.