AstroGypsies

It was a year that we needed a few miracles, some have happened, some perhaps will, but all around us Mother Nature performs these on a daily basis. These flowering bodies of lichen for example. These are the sporophytes, or reproductive bodies of the moss. -16° Celsius. no problem, how do they do that?….

From the newly flowered lichen popping up like small cauliflower heads to the bright orange Witches butter, yup….there aren’t that many mushrooms you can forage year-round, but this orange “witches butter” will pop out of softwood logs any day of the year. That includes -20° days or nights! While it may not taste like much, it is edible (think survival;) hahahahaha!). Tremella mesenterica (common names include yellow brain, golden jelly fungus, yellow trembler, and witches’ butter, it is a common jelly fungus in the family Tremellaceae of the Agaricomycotina, and wait, it comes in different colours! If that is not a freaking miracle what is;)

A short walk through the woods is a journey to another land. With the small amount of snow cover, different living things pop out of the once busy brown and gray foliage. Trees come to life with lichen and mushrooms, fungus with very odd names, and a plethora of life sometimes we don’t stop to see. We often fixate on the large, the landscape, the tall trees and looming cliffs, sometimes it is good to sit and look for the minute, or more:)

The small stream beside the road offers a marvel of sights. The icicles come and go, change shape, reconfigure themselves to the current temperature, snow and currents in an ever moving, changing world. We are in constant motion, our earth rotates at 1000 miles (1600 kilometers) per hour, our orbital speed around the sun is about 67,000 mph, good thing for gravity or we would be holding on for our lives;) We are in constant motion, nothing stays the same. As nostalgic as we can get as humans, looking forward if far more beneficial that looking back. So, Goodbye 2020, no looking back;) Hello 2021!

Feliz año neuvo amigos