The In-Between

There’s something seductive about the in-between.

One project is almost done. I could drag it out forever if I let myself. Adjust a boulder. Tweak the curve of the walkway. Adjust that boulder again. I took some creative risks with this one. As long as I don’t call it finished, I don’t have to find out if they were successful.

The next project is ready. I keep putting off the first move. I tell myself I’m thinking. Planning. And I am. But really, I’m stalling.

When we were kids, my friend Nick’s parents put in a swimming pool. One year, we decided to jump in on the first day they pulled off the cover. I think the thermometer read somewhere in the forties. I circled round and round the pool, trying to psyche myself up to be the first one in. I dragged it out as long as I could—and then I jumped.

I’ll make the leap from the sunny deck of the current project into the invigorating, slightly shocking waters of the next one soon. But I’m going to take a couple more laps first.