A Tower of Twigs

I walked down the low wooden steps of the deck and stepped into the damp soil along the edge of the garden bed. Lying among fallen leaves were several dry, brittle twigs. I gathered three smooth, slender sticks of similar length and carried them over to a flat garden stone. Carefully propping two together like an arch, I leaned the third against their joint to see if they could balance without falling over. It wobbled once, but when I eased my hands away, the tiny tripod remained standing, casting a neat triangular shadow on the stone.