I started this piece while reading and thinking about the remarkable ways the creatures and plants of the forest communicate with each other. It started with the simple idea of drawing the complex underground communication pathways of the trees, but then I realized many more characters belong to the story. So I just kept adding. There are 20 partially disguised denizens of the forest, both fauna and flora. All but one are hiding. Some are looking right at you (my own eyes among them). Others are looking at each other. And some are not able to look at all. Can you look closely enough to find them all?
John Muir often wrote poetically of the world’s wild gardens. This one is in a canyon in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The little meadow is mostly overlooked by hikers intent on getting to what they believe are grander sights. If only they hiked more mindfully they wouldn’t miss out on the more intimate glories of the world. “As long as I live, I'll hear waterfalls and birds and winds sing. I'll interpret the rocks, learn the language of flood, storm, and the avalanche. I'll acquaint myself with the glaciers and wild gardens, and get as near the heart of the world as I can.” - from John of the Mountain; The Unpublished Journals of John Muir, edited by Linnie Marsh Wolfe
Mushrooms and moss enliven the edge of the 40 acre woods
