This is the story of my personal windfall (literally, the falling debris from the wind storms we have been having) and why I like it. My new effort is even beginning to affect how I feel about wind storms – which are somewhat disturbing when one lives amongst the trees. Now I tend to see those winds (and what they bring) as an opportunity. When I looked on Google to find the precise definition of windfall*, it read as follows:
- an apple or other fruit blown down from a tree or bush by the wind.
- a piece of unexpected good fortune, typically one that involves receiving a large amount of money.“windfall profits” synonyms: bonanza, jackpot, pennies from heaven, stroke/piece of luck, godsend, manna from heaven “the inheritance from Uncle Larry was an unexpected windfall”
It is spring here and we have had a few windstorms after an abnormally wet winter. As a result, there are tree branches (if not whole trees) blown down everywhere. I am beginning to suspect firs drop branches as a way to avoid toppling. Still, those limbs carry lots of lichen. My windfall is that lichen – something we don’t want to disturb in its natural environment, but once it loses its host branch is fair game. This is just a quick note to begin the chronicle of my effort to extract dye from said windfall. 
My dog walks are my collecting time. Toby thinks I have lost my mind because I keep stopping and picking up sticks. Fine if I am throwing them, but just stashing them away? Nuts! When we get home, I scrape the lichen off the windfall and put it loosely into jars, filling each with a water/ammonia mixture. I now have 4 jars fermenting in my studio. All I have to do is weekly pop the tops (outside), stir occasionally, and wait 3 months or so. Here is hoping a brilliant purple appears!
In the meantime, happy spring!!!
* By the way, have you noticed how no one needs a dictionary anymore?
Really? Again? Can we just get walking????
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