The Vibrant Greens of the Winter Woods

If one asks most city folks to describe the appearance of "the woods" of Middle Tennessee during winter, you will get answer something like, "It all brown except for the cedar trees.  They are the only thing green this time of year."  While from a distance this may appear to be true, if you look a little closer, you will find that a lowly division of plants, Bryophyta,  that hold there own, using the sun's energy to carry on photosynthesis through our winter months.  As I walked here and there on my last outing,

In spite of the winter's chill, these plants seem to thrive as the light of the winter sun, unimpeded by the now absent leave of the deciduous trees.  With light for photosynthesis, and warmth, these plants almost glow against the muted browns and grays of the winter woods.  

I  refer to the mosses that cling to the bark of standing and falling trees.  

The plants each fill a niche in the environment.  Each plant has a beauty of its own.  Our lives are like the deciduous forest.  At times are lives are as the woods in spring.  Our lives are vibrant and joyous with abundant life.  Sometimes, our lives are gray of our winter of our discontent. In those times we must look deeply for that of our nature that, in spite of the cold and bitter that presents itself in our lives, still glows with the beauty of life and vigor.