Weather

Birch grow tall and straight and prefer northern climates, temperate summers and cold, crisp winters. Horizontal lines on their skin stand out like healing scars left by a clean, straight cuts, stitched closed. Their smooth bark peels off in great sheets. You could write a spell or a story on them. If you pull back the white sheath, there is a beautiful peach-colored layer underneath. And another layer underneath that. Occasionally the sheath pares off in spirals.

On top, dusty, sage-colored lichens grow, Hypogymnia Pysodes. Lichens are symbiotic souls living mutually together: algae and fungus. Fungus collects moisture and provides shelter; algae performs the miracle of photosynthesis, nourishing the fungus. Their shapes mirror seaweed. They lie over each other, smaller versions under larger.

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The birch and lichen are mutual abiders. In a single standing tree there are many
layers of community.