
(Pterospora andromedea)
Old Si Trail,
Mount Si Natural Resources Conservation Area,
Washington
(Ancestral lands of the Snoqualmie)
Trudging up the frigid mountainside, my thoughts disquieted by the turning of a cruel human world, I could not help but eye the wan winter daylight with a pang of trepidation at what tomorrow might bring. Near the summit, the last glimmers of sunlight scattered like embers as it slanted through the woodland. In an instant, they were gone. The mountaintop dimmed, forsaken by the roving sun as it disappeared beyond the looming, faceless hulk of a more distant peak. Under the closely woven canopy of branches, night quickly followed. Shadows joined the encroaching, inevitable blackness. And yet, I tarried. In the falling light, all was at peace. Still. Lovely. The coming darkness would be long; the morrow, uncertain. Clinging to the moment, I longed to linger ever in its soft, dusky glow. The fair light of day was lost, but this passing likeness remained. Just then, despite the gathering gloom, the frozen earth itself began to sparkle beneath my feet. A path of stars lit before me, tracing the way home. Unexpectedly — wondrously — light had emerged from the very darkness. For this night at least, all would be well.
“Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.”
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Pictured here is a stalk of yesteryear’s pinedrops (Pterospora andromedea), a leafless, mycoheterotrophic plant that survives in even the deepest shadows by deriving sustenance from fungi in the soil rather than by photosynthesizing sugar from sunlight. Looking much like a cluster of dried flowers, these are the papery husks of its seed capsules that, months ago, scattered the hope of a new generation into the waning days of autumn. Its enduring “bloom” will persist into the coming year, a token of brighter days to come.
There is still beauty in this world.
© 2025 Anthony Colburn