Shine On, You Crazy Diamond

Barley, a dog, stands on a wooded path, in shadows tinted green by the light passing through the trees above. A quadrilateral patch of light illuminates the path ahead.

I’ve been casting my thoughts back to warmer days, and happened upon this photo. While squares, rectangles, and diamonds are not such odds shapes to encounter in nature, they’re not shapes you expect to see composed of sunlight. Upon closer inspection, of course, we can see that this is partly an illusion created by a change in the darkness of the soil, but it was a very compelling illusion in person. An ancient part of my brain half-expected that when Barley stepped into the square, I would receive a popup message asking if I wanted to save her game.