Sun Dial Pin

A brass safety cotter pin lay tilted against the fountain coping under the midday sun. It cast an angular shadow across the wet stone. I approached, set my boots against the damp granite lip, and levered the metal leg down until it wedged upright inside a narrow masonry notch. It stood straight. As the shadow aligned with a pale mortar seam, the transit post acquired an accurate solar marker. Midday station holds.