A Garden Sketch

I leaned my orange rod against a smooth decorative garden stone near the walkway to take a short pause. The outer boundary was calm, but seeing the sunny stretch of flowerbed gave me an itch to create. Beside the curb lay a flat, dry pine splinter and some blue sidewalk chalk left behind on the edge of the pavers. I picked up the chalk chunk with both hands and knelt against a flat gray paving slab. Pressing hard, I drew a sturdy, smiling canine face complete with floppy ears and a bold little star badge on its collar. It feels right to leave a bright mark of our canine ally right here on the trail.