In the short story, Signs & Symbols by Vladimir Nabokov, a character believes that Nature is communicating messages to him through patterns he perceives in the natural environment. Humanity has a long history of attempting to read nature through shamans, prophets, or scientists. A stone communicates its complicated history through its shape, color, texture, and chemical structure. This history can be read, reread, reinterpreted and still retain indecipherable elements waiting to be decoded.