A Gentle Hurdles Race

I walked over to the neighborhood garden, still wearing my green fabric belt. Between two raised cedar planter boxes, a thin garden bamboo stake was propped horizontally across two red bricks. It looked like a tiny hurdle. I paused for a long moment, listening to the soft rustle of tomato vines in the breeze. Taking three deliberate, padded strides forward, I gathered my strength and made a tiny, earnest leap. My plush hind feet brushed the dry bamboo pole with a soft clack, but it stayed right in place. I landed softly in the loose soil, letting out a calm puff of air.