Four Stones

I’ve never been so happy to set four stones in my life.

There’s nothing special about them. Just four average stones, set together well. They’ll go unnoticed when the wall is complete. While a finished wall is seen as a whole and not its individual pieces, it doesn’t usually feel that way while you’re building it. By the time you find a stone, move it into place with your body, and assess how it lives with its current and potential neighbors, it can feel like the most important rock in the world. It’s easy to get so hyperfocused you’re unable to see the wall for the stones.

But right now, these four stones feel important. At least to me.

I’m driving home with that satisfying kind of tired that comes from forward progress. After weeks of delays, the wall is moving again. So am I.