Trail Maintenance

I slipped past the cracked patio screen and headed down to the brick border along the garden path. Between two weathered red bricks, overnight damp had washed away the soil, leaving a gap just wide enough to interrupt a good stride. A fallen hickory twig lay half-buried in moss, curved like a shallow arch. I rolled it across the trench, but the round bark shifted the moment I put weight on it. A quick search turned up a flat chip of slate. I wedged it under the near end until the wobble vanished. One solid step across, and the trail was open.