Morning Blueprint

I found a flat, square flake of dark slate resting on a rock ledge. Its face was completely smooth. I sat down and set my yellow pencil against the stone. Scritch. A crisp silver line appeared right away. I drew a neat grid to map the route from yesterday. One straight corridor for the cleft. A square for the sundial terrace. Halfway through, the lead dragged and left a wide smudge. Simple fix. I rotated the pencil two facets to find the sharper edge. The lines snapped back to clean right angles. I propped the slate slab against the canyon wall as a guide. A solid blueprint to start the day.