Sharon, I really enjoyed that story! I have a lot of moss growing in the little flower bed around our new house, and I love it! My husband was wondering how to get rid of it, and I told him about your story, and that it's a good thing. He's much happier about the moss now! He did remove the little bit of moss on the roof, but is happy with the rest. Probably because it means that our air is good here. I know it's growing in the flower bed because of the shady and damp conditions, but I like to think the air is good too, so the moss is happy!

Thanks for making me smile. I love your stories!

Made me smile, Natalie, thank you!

I love moss and it does have its purposes, just as most wild plants do. I don't like it growing on the wooden parts of my house either because that indicates dampness - But, even then it's telling us that we might need to dry that spot out. But I really love that it indicates pure air and also that it holds water and keeps the soil beneath it moist for other plants. Also it helps with erosion. Now if you could only get it to grow on some of those hills of yours, wouldn't that be pretty?

That is exactly what I thought about these hills of mine! It would look amazing! Too bad there is no shade, and it's really dry, or I'd give it a try! And then I would lay down and take a nap on it.

Great article! I missed it when it was new, but it's still great! A few years ago I found moss growing beside the road in a trickle of water from a spring, in full sunlight here in the high desert of eastern Oregon! I could hardly believe my eyes! Sharon, you probably saw a lot of moss when you went to coastal Alaska. Southeast Alaska sure has a lot of it, deep and lush, growing on tree trunks, logs, rocks and roofs. It was a problem on roofs. Just this week the news out of Portland, Oregon was about a test done on moss by the EPA showed a lot of pollution from industrial emissions, and they are telling people within half a mile of certain places not to eat vegetables grown there. Scary. I found it interesting that they tested the moss. It's a good indicator! Aunt Bett was right!

I'm glad you found it Mary. I love moss. I have no idea how many naps I've taken on beds of moss. I grew up with it.

I did see it in Alaska, I think I always look for it wherever I go. There's a lot of it right now since we've had several warmish days the past few weeks. The eastern part of KY is measuring snowfall, but Sunshine and I took a walk around my mossy yard today.

You know, Mary, I spent the middle half of my life thinking all that I learned in the mountains was nonsense, old wives tales and i hardly ever talked about plants to anybody. It wasn't until I was nearing retirement that I came across DG and something about it made my old memories kick in. Even then when I first wrote about poke sallet I thought I'd probably be kicked off the site. Now those old wives tales, the folk lore, the Native American beliefs are running parallel to so many scientific findings.

Aunt Bett and Ninna were using what they knew and had learned from their ancestors and they could very successfully live off the land. It's just too bad that many of us forgot those lessons we learned all those years ago. Not too late though, maybe we can talk about them now.

I'm so glad you have moss growing in your area, Mary. That is truly amazing, but where water is, so will be moss.