North Side

I noticed something surprising with all of this rain. You know that big tree out in the back yard that you see all the time in my pictures?

It’s turned green.

It’s moss. I’m guessing that it’s always been there, but it’s normally dormant and dry — and brown.

I’m not a botanist, so it’s a total guess, pure speculation (if anyone actually knows, please chime in to confirm or correct), but being soaked for four days straight might have “activated” it finally.

I thought at first it might be a trick of the light. It hasn’t been sunny, or well illuminated, out here in days. Nope. There’s green stuff growing all over the bark.

And not just green stuff, but also what seems to be purple stuff as well. But in the end, I’m not 100% convinced on that. It could be that the “purple” is just the same old brown in bad lighting in contrast to the green stuff all around.

A google search for “purple moss” gives you a type of sea weed that’s sold as a food supplement, but no actual purple mosses, so that’s one strike.

For the record – all of this moss *IS* on the north side of the tree.

Long ago I learned (incorrectly) that moss grows only on the north side of trees, a trick you can use if you’re lost in the woods. It turns out that’s not true, moss is only more likely to grow on the north side of trees and rocks because it’s shadier and cool, and that’s only in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere… Well, let’s leave that as an exercise for the student.