31. The Cypress Citadel

Stepping between the imposing trunks and thick roots of a pair of towering cypress trees, you find yourself in a cathedral of greenery. Dragonflies, butterflies, and gnats drone lazily through the warm, still air. Cypresses rise up on all sides, their branches intermeshing to form walls of leaves. The “floor” is a thin pool of still water that stretches from one end of the space to the other. Only a few centimeters deep, it reflects the filtered light back into the branches, giving the Cypress Citadel a green, diffuse glow.