I visited the Evergreen Cemetery a few days after Hurricane Ike and all that rain had passed, and found myself in an emerald fantasy land. All that water had brought out mosses and lichens of all descriptions. It looked more like forests that I have seen in coastal Maine than Kingston. Every inch of ground that was not covered by grass was covered by a tight carpet of moss. Mosses also were inching their way up monuments and stones. Lichens in jewel tones inched their slow way across headstones in their monumentally slow progress. Being a moss lover, I was thrilled.

Mosses are green plants, very ancient, and in this day and age, fill niches where so called "higher plants", the flowering plants, have trouble growing. Mosses will grow on poor, acid soil, in low light, and covered by falling leaves. They do not have roots, and are able to absorb nutrients directly through their thin epidermis. They also lose water easily, so on a dry day they appear dry and twisted. When we have cool temperatures and extended wet days, mosses thrive. The dry carpet opens up and leaves expand, ready to start growing and photosynthesizing.

Lichens are not plants. They are a combination organism, a fungus and algae, or a fungus and blue green bacteria. The fungus is able to capture water, while the other companion makes food through photosynthesis. They may live hundreds of years. Lichens have preferred habitats, and those that live on granite are different from those that live on marble. They don’t do much damage to the stone underneath, but may hold acid rain against the rock, which will eventually do some damage, but the process is very slow. It may take centuries.

I think it is appropriate that mosses and lichens are dominant features of a cemetery. After all, they mirror the slow, seldom changing aspect of the place. The eternal nature of these little organisms reflects the eternal rest of our loved ones, and I find that comforting.