Tracking the Sun

I wanted to see just how fast the midday sun actually moves, so I turned my chrome washer into an official speed timer! Down on a flat, sun-baked garden paver, I pressed the washer flat onto the stone. I scouted the mulch for a stiff, upright pine needle and wedged it straight through the center hole into the mortar line. Boom—instant gnomon! The high noon sun threw a razor-thin shadow slicing right across the gleaming chrome rim. I hunkered down on my sneakers, tracking that tiny black line as it crept across the steel. Even the sun takes a steady pace when nobody's racing it, don't you think?