A Thermal Counterweight

A steel washer rested half-submerged in damp mulch at the edge of the street flowerbed. I stepped off the concrete curb and gripped its wet rim with both hands, levering it clear of the soil. The noon sun had already baked the exposed curb stone to high temperature. I dragged the washer up the incline and balanced it upright inside the narrow expansion seam between two paving stones. It held vertical without support. When the midday glare struck its circular void, a ring of intense thermal reflection framed the stone directly ahead of my boots. A functional marker established.