What was the last thing you learned that changed how you look at the world?

It does not have to be anything major or life altering, just something that in some small but permanent way altered your view of things.

I recently attended a class on mosses. I had low expectations. I have always considered moss as a kind of slime and figured that it must be made up of single cell organisms like algae.

At the start of the class, the instructor had us look at moss samples through a hand lens. I was completely blown away. It was like looking at a miniature forest. Each moss plant in the colony had at least one stem and leaf. There was quite a bit of variety among the samples. Some moss had needles like evergreens and some had flat leaves. While I do not quite share the instructor’s enthusiasm for moss, I will never look at it the same way. I plan on using a hand lens to take a closer look the next time I find some moss.