In Pursuit Of Maine: September 25, 2014 - Moss and Lichen

Thursday, September 25, 2014

September 25, 2014 - Moss and Lichen

Just a quick entry today to tell you how much I love walking in the woods. I found this clearing so you could see some of the wonderful forest floor. It’s covered with mountains of pine needles and all different kinds of cold-loving mosses. The lighter colored moss in the center and left of the photo is called “reindeer moss” because of its antler-shaped features, but it is actually a kind of lichen. These mosses, lichens, and pine needles provide the softest and most cushioned walking experience you could ever imagine. My feet are always springing back up at me with every step I take. It is very comfortable and enjoyable. When I leave the woods and step out onto a road, even a dirt road, it seems so hard and angular to me. I immediately want to jump back into the woods!

In this particular photo the moss is rather thin, and I think that’s because it’s in a clearing that gets more sunshine. Mosses love the cold, damp, and shady areas. So you can pretty much guess that they are perfect for Maine! And I just love their earthy scent. When I come back to my home, even though it’s clean, my nose wrinkles up because it smells ‘stale” compared to the mosses and pine needles of the woods. It’s no wonder I spend most of my time outdoors.

Moss, lichen, and pine needles make for a soft forest floor.

"The Plain Maine Cookbook" is my own collection of vintage Maine recipes that will immediately bring you back to a simpler time, a less confused time. These recipes are more than just comfort food. They're family food, traditional food, simple food, plain food. One bite and you'll say, "Ah, yes! I remember my grandmother used to make this. I had forgotten all about it!" Recipes for whoopie pies, funnel cakes, fried fiddleheads, haymaker's switchel, coffee can bread, glogg, and much more are in these pages. There is even a recipe on how to render lard. So open the door and go back to some simple, time-tested foods you can prepare easily. You'll find that you save money and waste less by "making do" with commodity cooking. What's in the pantry or in the garden is what's for dinner.

"So You Want to Move to Maine" is an invaluable little book in helping people to make a permanent move to Maine. It will save you a ton of time because all the initial footwork is done for you, including 100 links on how to find work and living quarters, getting your driver's license, pet requirements, programs for people with disabilities, programs for senior citizens, getting married in Maine, hidden taxes and expenses, hospitals, health insurance, handling a real winter like a pro, etc. Stop being "just a number" or another face in the crowd. Walk away from the rat race. Become boldly individualistic and make your mark in life. You can still do that in Maine, one of the last holdouts of ordinary, old-fashioned, kind, and decent American living.

I’ve chosen 37 unique fairy tales that will be loved by both adults and children as they can be read and interpreted on many levels. But if you are looking for only sweet tales that end in joy and fairness, you may want to pass this book by. Some fairy tales are simply “dark,” and that is because sometimes life is simply dark. Not always, of course, but often enough. Sometimes the hero lives; sometimes he dies. Check out my book, “Fairy Tales of Maine,” in the photo link below. If you are brave, you might just meet yourself in one of these tales.