44. Hart's-tongue fern

On a warm, sultry day the secret places under the hazel trees are cool and dark.

Clumps of hart's-tongue fern flourish here in the shade, their roots reaching into pockets of moist soil between rocks and tree roots.

Only a few steps away, Little Meadow has become an even more beautiful carpet of orchids and other sun-loving flowers that grow on the thin, much dryer soil.

The fern could not grow in the open meadow and orchids could not live in the shade of the hazel trees.

Each plant flourishes in its own habitat, and I wonder what that says to us about our lives. Are we flourishing? Are we in the right habitat?