Moss, and not the Kate kind

Today's Wonder of the World is...Moss!

We live near a very old graveyard, and for some reason last week I decided to take a five minute graveyard stroll. (Yes, I had other more productive things to do, but the graveyard was so pretty!)

Don't call me Lily Munster. I just thought it looked inviting.


Just so you know, most old cemeteries in South Carolina do not come equipped with a jungle gym. This one is behind an old church, hence the play equipment.
I spent a few minutes looking at the graves because old graves always interest me. But then I saw the moss.



Ah, moss.
Moss is a Wonder of the World.
I love how it squishes under my feet.
But then the moss turned on me. It whispered to my subconscious to dredge up an old poem from high school. The one by Emily Dickinson.

I died for Beauty -- but was scarce
Adjusted in the Tomb
When One who died for Truth, was lain
In an adjoining room --

He questioned softly "Why I failed"?
"For Beauty", I replied --
"And I -- for Truth -- Them self are One --
We Brethren, are", He said --

And so, as Kinsmen, met a Night --
We talked between the Rooms --
Until the moss had reached our lips --
And covered up -- our names --

Okay, so now I was completely creeped out, so I had to leave the cemetery.
I like the idea of truth and beauty being buddies, and I love Emily Dickinson, but you must admit, sometimes she had a thing for the macabre.

So I rushed right home and tried to get cemeteries and that creepy poem out of my head, although I did enjoy the moss.
And then I thought of it!
An un-creepy moss memory!
Here it is!


No, that's not it. That's a French gargoyle with moss creeping up its back and out its nose.
(On a side note, did you know the French word for moss is mousse? Yes, the same as in mousse au chocolat! Interessant, n'est ce pas?)
Try again for an un-creepy moss memory...

Here it is!


Have you read Miss Suzy? No? You must read it! Go to ebay and get a copy. (Update: I just checked amazon and they have it too! So maybe your local bookstore does as well. Hurray! Miss Suzy is making a comeback!)

Miss Suzy is one of my favorite books from my childhood. I brainwashed each of my three children into loving it too, but that wasn't hard. Sarah loved it because Miss Suzy is a squirrel and has a moss carpet and drinks out of acorn cups, and must live in a doll house for a while after a gang of evil red squirrels throws her out of her very own tree house. Who wouldn't want to live in a doll house? Miss Suzy liked it for a while, but then she missed her moss carpet.

Ben and Sam loved the book because at the climax, toy soldiers march into Miss Suzy's house and say to the red squirrels, "Will you leave peaceably or MUST WE FIGHT?"
And of course they fight. (Update#2: Upon further thought, I'm not sure that they do fight. I might be remembering Ben when he was four, pretending to fight the red squirrels. I need to look that up.) Red squirrels are always itching to rumble.

But they do love moss.
Here's proof.


One more thing, if you like moss as I do and feel like being a queen or king for a day, check out the crowns here. Miss Suzy would wear one, I'm sure of it.