Becoming Lichen - irregular diary - part 3

Above the woodland are 3 outcrops of volcanic rock, Carnedd Meibion Owen, with views eastwards across the Preseli massif.

Rain showers this morning. I am here with ecologist Yusef Samari, we have been visiting this particular outcrop for a while now. We came across these particular colonies of fruticose Stereocaulon lichen a few weeks back, drawn back to them, nesting in a sheltered family of boulders they provide a cosy niche to sit and hang out.

We talk of how, in these visits we bring ourselves, at a point in our lives, to these organisms. We are learning about them, through proximity, touch, observation and a kind of communion over time and seasons.

They seem to be thriving here, also called Rock foam or Snow lichen, they occasionally shed tiny white particles of themselves, spores. We sit amongst them, drink tea, touch them lightly. I nestle the contact mic’s in different arrangements and record in the rain.

- Simon Whitehead