Did you ever play with Magic Eye images? I loved them as a kid, and found them extremely frustrating—one or the other with little sentiment in between, based entirely on whether I was able to conjure the latest three-dimensional shape from nothing with only the power of my own focus.
I feel like that’s what I’ve been doing in the garden ever since spotting the first tiny blade of corn last week. Each time I visit to water, weed, or add compost to each seedling, I scour the ground for fresh signs of life. It seems to shimmer with tiny shapes and shadows, a kaleidoscope of earth tones. Flecks of green pop up at me, then resolve back into stray leaves that blew in or a new weed. Come on, little seeds, I can’t work any more magic on this, it’s up to you to emerge and take form in the real world.