Spores
Molds
Fungus
Bacteria
Yeasts
Thumbelina took me to see the slime mold in the grove. It was absolutely disgusting -- at least from a human point of view. Really. It's slimy and it's moldy. What could be more disgusting than that?
So, Thumbelina was smiling and fluttering around the slime mold like it was a long lost friend. She talked only in fairy to it -- or something else completely. Whatever language she used, it was absolutely foreign to me. The other unusual thing was the length of time her conversation took. Not that she said a lot. Just that she talked sooooooo s s l l l l l l ooooooooowwww. Really slowly. There was plenty of listening, too. I guess fairy ears pick up slime mold discussions either above or below my range of hearing.
She kept going from patch to patch of mold, and smiling.
I would have called the looney bin. Only she had prepared me. She said, "This could take all morning. You won't understand a word of what I say, either. Don't worry. I'll fill you in on everything once I'm done."
So, as we flew away, Thumbelina summarized. The slime mold was working on a project to fertilize the entire grove, and was on schedule to have nutrients equally distributed before the first frost. This was good for the grove because it meant more fecundity in spring. (Yes, I did have to look up 'fecundity' later. It means the state of being fertile.) Thumbelina had offered to place rotting fruit in key spots to help the slime mold achieve its goals. It mentioned that helper yeasts would also be appreciated. She promised to try, but she has to speak to the queen about that.
"So, we go to the home tree next?" I asked.
"Of course not. We have some other fungus to speak to. I have to give a complete report."
So, although a slime mold might be considered fungus-like, (it reproduces partly by spores, and partly by being gooey,) we had a conference with normal looking mushrooms.
Thumbelina didn't actually speak. She felt things, and inspected the under sides of the caps of the mushrooms. She sat down on one, and sang a song I had never heard before. Then, she closed her eyes and waited.
I sat on a smaller mushroom, nearby, and tried to be very "at one" with nature. All I got was warm eyelids from having the sun shine on them while my eyes were closed.
When I opened my eyes, Thumbelina was staring at me.
"What?" I asked.
"Are you ready to go?"
"Yep."
"Good. You're really bothering that mushroom, and it's too polite to mention it directly."
Bothering it?
Oh man. I didn't know if I really wanted to ask. But I had to.
"What about me was bothering the mushroom?" I asked as we flew away.
"Oh, the blood flow of a human is pretty loud. The mushroom couldn't hear the discussion I was having with the rest of the group. For that particular mushroom, it was like it had an iPod set to bagpipe music on full blast during an important political summit."
Thumbelina really has a way of putting things in terms I can understand.
Of course, understanding it, and feeling good about it are two different things. I have a grating type of pulse in my backside, I guess. I had better keep that in mind the next time I'm involved in a political summit.
"What did you find out about these mushrooms?" I asked.
"Conditions have been less than optimal for them this year. We might not have as many fairy rings if they can't get the bacterial support they need."
"And what will it take to get bacterial support?"
"Oh, more moisture to decay the leaves. Maybe a little more dust in the air. I'll talk it over with the queen. She knows how to handle these things. She's been doing it since before I was born. Really, I'm just a messenger."
"So, now do we go back to the tree?"
"It's not a complete report unless I have all the non-limbed life forms in my census."
That was a new concept. A tree or a bush has limbs, just like a human or a fairy. Thumbelina was interviewing ALL non-limbed life forms in the grove today? This could take a while.
"Are you going to shrink down and talk to bacteria colonies?"
Thumbelina giggled. "No. I talk to bacterias all the time. They're the easy ones. All fairies are in more or less continual contact with our bacterias. It's like you're aware of the birds around you. It doesn't take a huge effort to watch them and know what they're up to -- they'll either sing it or show it minute by minute."
Actually, I don't pay that much attention to birds in my normal life I might start, though.
"So, next we visit?" I prodded.
"Well, there are five separate kinds of yeasts. I have to get some equipment for that. Then, I just make sure I have a sample of each kind. In a forest this size, all the yeasts are going to say more or less the same things."
"Fascinating," I said. Inwardly, though, my head was starting to spin.
"I've also got the true molds left and a few microbes you wouldn't know the names for."
"Is there any way I can help?" I asked.
"Not really."
This was pretty aggravating. I'd be following a fairy around, listening to or watching stuff I could never understand or help with. Thumbelina must have sensed my frustration.
"If you have a blog entry to write, I could meet you back at the nook before training," she offered.
"I guess that would work," I replied. "If I can help, just let me know, though."
"Don't worry about it," she said.
Without another syllable, she was off to fetch her yeast equipment.
Maybe I should have followed. Instead, I flew to a nearby town, grew into human size, and spent the rest of the morning at the library. I researched slime molds. It's tantalizing to find out what humans actually do know about them. I found some awesome articles, and a couple of funny YouTube clips. If we could get a few scientists together with a fairy census worker, I bet the advances would be impressive. The inter-connectedness of the micro-world with the plants in a grove, and the fairies that coordinate everything is a kind of cooperation we humans could really learn from. My internet search led me to a YouTube clip where slime molds actually re-created a map of the Canadian Highway system. So, here's links to the best of what I found. Link #3 is the time-lapse movie of the slime mold highway.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/phenom_mar01.html
http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/science/2012/05/if-the-interstate-system-were-designed-by-a-slime-mold/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4jRr7YAzfI&feature=player_embedded
How did I explain my fancy fairy outfit to the librarian? Easy. I was on break from a preschool play day -- where the teachers were working on a theme of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Nobody batted an eye.
I can't guarantee that when I get back home I won't bleach my bathrooms into sterile submission. I will, however, try to keep an open mind about the microscopic world. Who knows? Eventually, my blood stream might be the kind of music a fungus would want to hear.
-- Sabrina
Since Sabrina seems so interested in results, I'll give you a run down of what I told the queen. The slime molds of this grove are actually part of a larger organism stretching ten miles one direction and maybe eight miles in another -- but don't get the impression a slime mold would ever assume the shape of a square. Those are just the farthest reaches of it. It is pleased with the year's distribution of nutrients, and it is making sure these nutrients are distributed well. We're lucky it moved in. Before our grove had slime molds, the fecundity of the grove wasn't nearly as good. The yeasts all say movement is easy with the current air currents, and most mammals and reptiles seem to be in good health. The only "blip" they notice is a patch of tar which causes localized problems for plants and animals. We already knew about that. One of the nearby highways is being resurfaced. Wet tar is something of a sticky issue for a grove. The bacteria, of course, multiply as needed, and decompose whatever they can get moisture enough to decompose. The true molds are struggling a little this season. They prefer a much wetter summer. The large fungus population seems well able to adapt to this slightly dry summer. They'll go ahead and make spores once the fairy ring season is over.
Now, I've got to get back to training. I hope to be able to win the hummingbird races on behalf of this grove at the games. Then, for next year, I'll suggest to the queen back in my own grove that human friends are a great boost for training. Maybe she'll consider it and maybe she won't. Nobody wants to throw the balance of fairy and humming bird relations too far out of balance.
May your heather happily wave.
-- Fresh
