Lichen it to life

You see it before you see the host.
It clings to the bark, tendrils of bright green reaching for the sky, swirling towards stones, whispering neon thoughts to the pinecones nearby. The lichen is not shy about its takeover. Like a 13 year old cheerleader in a flourescent pink bodysuit, it does everything it can to be noticed while trying to seem really subtle. If lichen had hair and fingers it would twirl it's strands innocently while doing a backflip.
The thing about lichen that is even more startling than it's incredible hue is that "it" is not an "it." It is two "its" acting as one. Like an identical old couple holding hands and smiling on a park bench, fungus and algae combine to make one mutualistic organism. They in turn live on a third organism like a tree (or on a bench like the old couple. Or maybe on the old couple if they sat long enough.). Fungus helps keep algae hydrated, algae photosynthasizes like a mo-fo to help fungus along with morphogenesizing into it's free flowing form. It's a perfect party relationship.
But back to the color! I know florescent is in and all that. I'm not a huge fan of day glo sneakers. I always thought it looked artificial. But now I have been reminded that Mother Nature probably loved the 80s as she's been rocking the color spectrum for, um, like, ever.