Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Moss Memories




The Night is mother of the Day,
The Winter of the Spring,
And ever upon old Decay
The greenest mosses cling.

~ A Dream of Summer {1847}
John Greenleaf Whittier




Some of my fondest childhood memories involved playing in woods.  I always thought moss was one of the most beautiful plants.  My cousins and I would make a moss "carpet" when we would make a pretend house in the woods.  What a lush floor it made, like green velvet. I lived in the the city, well... a small town,  but I didn't see much moss growing around my neighborhood. Seeing moss was a special occasion for me.





Several months ago I saw some little pots of moss for sale at my favorite nursery here in Texas.  I didn't buy any but later thought of them often.  I made a special trip one day, several months later, to the nursery to buy some little pots of moss.  I was told they didn't have any more, it was a product they sold during the spring
time.



What a thrill, finding beautiful green moss during the frigid month of January!

Last week, I was pacing in the "backyard" as the pool guy was repairing damaged (frozen) pool pump part$. Actually we have no backyard, I guess it could be better described as a courtyard.  Lo and behold, while I was pacing back and forth, hoping the repairman would not find more pump damage, I noticed some moss growing in a terra cotta pot!  Not much moss but it was still beautiful green moss!  Today I went out with a spoon and carefully removed it and replanted it in a little white pear shaped dish.  After Googling, I see for moss to thrive, it would be best grown in a terrarium. I have the perfect container for this so I plan on trying my luck in the spring with making a small terrarium.  I can look at the little world of the terrarium and pretend it is my little rain forest.





Goodness, I think that little bit of moss was important to me because as I have written about before, I have felt "nature" deprived living here amongst all this concrete.  I take it as a compliment when Clint makes the statement, "It takes so little to make you happy."  Thanks, Clint!  {It is true, most of the time! ;-) }




8 comments:

Clint said...

Sensational post! I love your pictures and the contrasts of black and green and pearly white and light and shadow.

But I especially like your imagination as a little girl, planting a moss-floored house in the woods of Tennessee and carrying that imagination forward years later to the plains of Texas.

Cindy Ellison said...

What a sweet comment! The tale had to be told when I found that bit of moss out back surrounded by all that concrete ♥

MINAKICHU said...

I love how you appreciate beauty in even the simplest of things Cindy. You really have the heart, imagination and a mind of a wonderful sensitive soul:-)

Anonymous said...

I couldn't have said it better, MINAKICHU and Clint.
What a beautiful imagination you have ((( Cindy )))
love you,
patti

Cindy Ellison said...

Minakichu and Patti, thank you both for your sweet and thoughtful comments. It is fun to make those imaginary vignettes. I guess they could be called still lifes. Thanks again for taking the time out to look at my blog. ♥

Sabine Gimm said...

Hello Cindy,
nice to meet you. A beautyful blog.
Greetings Sabine

Nova said...

A hello from Tenerife.

Nice pictures and sweet idea. Love to see the result of the terrarium when it will be ready.

Hope the damage wasn't to bad....

greetings Petra

Unknown said...

I LOVE moss too! We have a "courtyard" as well and we actually desperately try to get moss to grow in between the cracks of the bricks and stones! There is something so magical looking about it...right?!

My Mom loves it too so she has no doubt influenced me.....beautiful pictures too Cindy, I just love the cream colors, so great!!!!