A Clean Roll

I pushed past the front screen door and walked out toward the sunny stretch of the driveway. Resting in the seam where the concrete meets the lawn was a heavy, polished acorn with its cap popped clean off. I rolled it between my palms to check the balance—dense, solid, and smooth. Planting my boots square behind the expansion joint, I eyed a dry curled leaf sitting down by the curb. I took my time, crouched low, and bowled the acorn with an easy flick of my wrist. It hummed across the aggregate, curved around a pebble, and clipped the leaf dead center. That’s a clean roll to start the day.