Grok My Enthusiasm (14)
By:
April 13, 2016
One in a weekly series of enthusiastic posts contributed by HILOBROW friends and regulars.
“Moss,” I say when someone asks me what I do for fun. “Moss?” they ask.
I admire moss as a living thing. Moss stays green. It stays soft. It doesn’t grow much. It doesn’t die much. It has the petrichor scent of wilderness and weather. It gives no fucks, grows on rocks and median strips and out of cracks in the bricks. You can keep it alive in a plastic bag with a paper towel if you need to transport it somewhere. It is older than almost every other land plant and not showy like the ferns or poorly named like the regrettable liverwort. Bryologists have been studying it and drawing it and sharing moss stories since the 1700s.
You can put moss in a jar with a few other things and have a mossarium that can handle a wide range of temperatures and a staggering amount of neglect. Stick a glass ladybug in there if you’re feeling whimsical. Find a worm that’s been laying low in one for a year and a half. It’s slow motion botany for inhospitable locations and inattentive gardeners. Mossariums make good gifts. People can usually keep them alive — unlike that orchid you gave them — if they follow the firm instructions to leave them mostly alone. Don’t open them. Don’t water them. It’s not a hobby for people who like to fidget. It’s a hobby for people who can sit still.
I am not a caring nurturer. I have other fine qualities but not those. I don’t have a family. I don’t have pets. I’d never been good at keeping plants alive. That has been slowly changing after years of moss therapy. My place is filled with greenery even if I go away for weeks at a time. Working on my mossariums gives me a good reason to get dirty.
Mossing gives purpose to a walk in the woods. Mosseries create welcoming nooks out of dark moist corners. Moss is the first green you’ll see when the snows recede. It’s cool enough for hipsters, ecofriendly enough for hippies, and plentiful enough (in my backyard at least) so that I don’t have to buy it, I can just have it.
Me and moss. Moss and me. Staying green, playing the long game.
GROK MY ENTHUSIASM: Rob Wringham on THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF LUNCH | Gordon Dahlquist on WEEKEND | Joe Alterio on MILLION YEAR PICNIC | Adrienne Crew on LA BARONNE EMILE D’ERLANGER | Josh Glenn on THE SURVIVAL SAMPLER | Alix Lambert on THE SKIES BELONG TO US | Adam McGovern on PENELOPE and CHAVEZ RAVINE | Rob Wringham on THE LYKE WAKE WALK | Mark Kingwell on NORTH STAR SNEAKERS & GWG JEANS | Gordon Dahlquist on FELLINI SATYRICON | Erik Davis on AH! | Devin McKinney on WHISPERING AFRAID | Mimi Lipson on 1973 SEARS ROEBUCK CATALOG | Jessamyn West on MOSS | Josh Glenn on THE SCOUT HOW BOOK | Brian Berger on SLACKER | Alix Lambert on ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS | Chelsey Johnson on MONOTREMES | Devin McKinney on THE BUTCHER COVER | Flourish Klink on ONE DIRECTION | Gordon Dahlquist on FULL METAL JACKET | Allegra Huston on CLOTHESLINE | Jenny Davidson on POWERLIFTING | Evan Narcisse on REZ | Deborah Wassertzug on VEGETARIAN MEATBALLS | Chris Spurgeon on WALLACE AND GROMIT | Mandy Keifetz on BENEFICIAL MICROBES | Annie Nocenti on MARKS ON WALLS | Molly Sauter on THE GREAT BRITISH BAKE OFF | William Nericcio on LAND OF THE LOST | Dan Fox on “VOICE OF GOD” RADIO DJS | Brandi Brown on WIKIPEDIA TALK | Claire Lehmann on THE APPARATUS REVEAL | Alice Boone on COSTUME JEWELRY | Colin Dickey on WIDESPREAD PANIC | Anshuman Iddamsetty on THE FULL BODY PROJECT | John Hilgart on MAKING GRATEFUL DEAD ALBUMS | Rob Wringham on STEVEN UNIVERSE | John Overholt on DECKLE EDGES | James Hannaham on HABIT PATTERNS | Jessamyn West on THE PUBLIC LIBRARY SYSTEM | Adam McGovern on THE SPACE GIANTS | Brian Berger on MEDIUM COOL | Chris Spurgeon on THE DUNNING-KRUGER EFFECT | Joe Alterio on TABLETOP WARGAMING | Mimi Lipson on TRASH PICKING | Jason Grote on CZECH CINEMA | Roxane Gay on AUTOMATED CAR WASH | Dan Fox on JULIA DAVIS | Amy Thielen on BINGO | Steph Burt on FEIJOA.
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