Note to readers: I am short of words, having spent the last few weeks experiencing, observing, and then pondering a vibrant life transitioning toward a greatly diminished future. There have been many miles traveled, many long walks looking down, and reminders to lift my gaze to consider horizons.
“This living, flowing land
is all there is, forever…”
Excerpt of the poem, “By Frazier Creek Falls” by Gary Snyder (Turtle Island [New Directions Publishing, 1974])
Everywhere I’ve rambled, mosses and lichens are doing quiet, necessary work — breaking stone, fiber, scars and memories into the chemistry of future life. The following images were collected in a fir and pine-studded canyon not far from where Gary Snyder once worked as a logger. Through this canyon flows a river, one spring flood after another carving and shifting logs and stone into a staging ground. Here too are stumps and deadfalls that carry cultural scars that in time will be covered and consumed.
“11 August ‘54. Chokersetting today. Madras in the evening for beer. Long cinnamon-colored logs. This is “pine” and it belongs to “Indians” — what a curious knotting-up. That these Indians & these trees, that co-existed for centuries, should suddenly be possessor possessed. Our concepts to be sure.” — from the essay, “Ancient Forests of the Far West” by Gary Snyder (The Practice of the Wild [North Point Press, 1990])
[For best image quality, go to the website version of this post.]
“In a way the web that holds it all together is the mycelia, the fungus-threads that mediate between root-tips of plants and chemistry of soils, bringing nutrients in. This association is as old as plants with roots.” — from the essay “Ancient Forests of the Far West”, by Gary Snyder (The Practice of the Wild [North Point Press, 1990])
Up next, Stage of Life; Part 2 — Awash in a Sagebrush Sea. Until then, here are some links to more information about lichens and mosses. Let’s help each other enjoy this beautiful planet that is our home. — B.
“Lichens as Bioindicators,” from the National Park Service.
“Moss Study Helps Identify Pollution Hotspots,” from the U. S. Forest Service.
For a deeper dive into the processes of monitoring the effects of pollutants on biological processes, read these articles: “A systematic review on biomonitoring using lichen as the biological indicator: A decade of practices, progress and challenges,” from Ecological Indicators, Volume 121; and “Exposure to atmospheric metals using moss bioindicators and neonatal health outcomes in Portland, Oregon,” from Environmental Pollution, Volume 284. (Both articles were accessed through ScienceDirect.com.)