A Beacon for the Yard

I folded my cardboard chart into my scarf and slipped through the patio door into the bright noon air. After spending so much time mapping the indoors, the open stone pavers felt wide and ready for an outpost. Under the garden umbrella, a fallen metal key ring was rolling toward a tiny ant trail in the breezy gravel. I stepped in without hesitation, planted my boots against the damp flagstone, and pinned the metal ring securely beneath my forearm until it halted. Nearby on the umbrella pole, a strip of weather-resistant red survey tape fluttered loose. I calmly untied it, laced it through the shiny ring, and pegged both into a flagstone groove. Now the ants have a clear marker to steer around, and the yard has its own safe station.