Stone Ramp

A tiny wedge of gray slate rested in the grit beside the bridge approach. Silence. I laid my small plastic axe flat across the flagstone. Kneeling down, I picked up the flat wedge with both hands. With slow stillness, I slid the tapered edge beneath the front lip of the cedar span and pressed its thick end firmly into the stone seam. Click. The slate chip seated flush against the flagstone surface, forming a low, smooth ramp up onto the railed crossing. A slow tilt of my head. The path stood reinforced.