Symbiosis at my feet

Part of the wonder of living in a forested area is the things I find on the forest floor. Certainly along with the mushrooms for interest there are the lichens a sybiotic complex relationship between a fungus and an algae. I know virtually nothing about the specifics of the species of each . Which is to say I could not take a gander even under a microsocpe and tell you what is what. But it all really does not matter to me. Yesterday was dry but today the dusty trail through the woods was wet after the rain and the lichens which had been a pale tan were now vivid brown-- different looking as they lapped up the water invisibly to me.