I hope this post finds you well. We should be in the deep throes of winter here in central Virginia but it's been a mild one so far. It's bittersweet to enjoy warmer days while knowing that the nice weather is being caused by detrimental climate change. I've been thinking a lot about our relationship with the Earth as humans, and how many of us don't view it as an actual "relationship."
I read Robin Wall Kimmerer's book Gathering Moss recently, a small collection of essays about Kimmerer's experiences as a bryologist, or moss scientist. Kimmerer is a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation and brings to her research a mix of Western academia and Indigenous ways of learning. Many Indigenous peoples of North America believe plants (and all organic matter on Earth) are our ancestors, and should be treated as beings, not just resources. I highly recommend both Gathering Moss and her more famous book Braiding Sweetgrass for more on how we can better honor the land around us.
The other impact that Gathering Moss had on me was a profound desire to go outside and look very closely at moss. As a bryologist, Kimmerer goes into detail about the biology and processes of moss in the book, and I was fascinated to learn a small patch of moss is much like a whole forest in miniature. I Googled the price of magnifying loupes, and took a walk around my own neighborhood with a telephoto lens in hopes of capturing closeups of the tiny plants. Kimmerer says the abundant presence of moss in urban areas is a sign of good air quality, and in Richmond we have a lot. We also have a lot of lichen, the small plates of blue matter growing alongside and on top of the moss featured in many of these photos.
Lichen is not a plant and does not have roots, but still needs water to grow. Mosses are phenomenal at retaining water, their tiny little leaves acting in tandem as a sponge, which is why where you see moss, you often see lichen too. Some ferns, like the tiny one below, are epiphytes, plants that grow on other plants. In forests, ferns can be found growing on trees, and often attach to the moss on the tree as an anchor and water source. The baby fern in the below photo is likely rooted in the moss growing on this brick wall, an example of how moss is a vital part of the ecosystem.
This was my first real attempt at macro photography, and I am very pleased with how the shots came out. Even though my excursion was originally inspired by moss, I found myself more drawn to the pale blue lichen and also to these little petals of fungus growing from the tree bark. I had no idea what to expect when I sent the film off for processing, and was impressed by the minute detail my lens was able to capture.
There will definitely be more of this sort of thing to come, nature walks for closeup images of small bits of life. The images in this post were taken in the city (my city is admittedly very green, much greener than some others), but I plan to venture into more natural areas as well and see what I can find. If you’re interested in learning how you can forge a better relationship with the world around you, I highly recommend reading either of Robin Wall Kimmerer’s books mentioned here.
Thank you for reading, you’re beautiful.