WHISPERING HILLS: TREADING SOFTLY ON THE MOSSY SLOPE

I hike to what I call the "mossy slope" on Forest Service land south of Whispering Hills. Walking switch-backs makes it easier to climb up the hill to a rock where I like to sit.

Mosses, lichens, dead leaves and rocks patchwork the slope. Showers during the night softened the dead leaves and greened the lichens. Cupped leaves hold mini-pools of water.

I sit on a folding stool, because the showers also saturated the mossy mattress covering the rock slab. The rock divides the hundred-foot hill in half. Other boulders protrude from the hill too.

Sticks and acorns litter the broom moss around me. The acorns have rolled into the depressions between the crowded mounds. Spore capsules growing on one corner of the rock.

Old maple trees beside the creek have pinkish bark. The outer coat of bark has flaked off the upper portions of the sycamore trees and left them wearing a white "shirts" of inner bark. Mosses and lichens splotch the dark bark on the oaks.

Green and gray lichens cover the exposed sandstone rocks. No moss grows on the opposite east-facing slope; it covers most of the upper half of the slope on this side.

Clouds subdue the light and erase all the shadows. Water tumbles over the rocky creek bed below me. I close my eyes to black out all visual distractions and to enhance my hearing. One waterfall upstream whispers in the background. One below me monopolizes the conversation, and a lower one says "farewell" over its shoulder before the water spread over the dropping layers of table rocks where the creek bends.

The leaves on the broom moss all bend in one direction (enlarges two times in illustration). This isn't apparent at a glance because of the dense tufts.

It just so happens that I brought my copy of "Walk Softly Upon the Earth," a book on mosses, lichens and liverworts published by the Missouri Department of Conservation.

Broom moss grows mainly on soil. Its vibrant green color and carpet-like appearance make it easy to recognize . The leafy portion of the plant is called a gametophyte, and the spore-producing part is called the sporophyte. The spore capsules have well-defined lids which are shed to release the spores after the capsules mature.

A downy woodpecker gives its "chip" call. I occasionally hear water seeping in the slope directly behind me ... deeper levels of concentration heighten my senses.

It doesn't look like the Carolina chickadees, tufted titmice and white-breasted nuthatches that were here when I arrived are going to come through again.

Since the wildlife didn't cooperate this visit, I guess I'll just have to come back to the mossy slope again soon.

Kathy Phelps is a freelance nature writer and illustrator who resides in Harrisburg, Ill.