Resetting the ground

This past week, I spent some time fixing a section of the patio.

Some of the bricks had sunk down over time.

Not all at once, but gradually, enough to notice.

Just enough that someone might catch their foot if they weren’t paying attention.

So I started pulling them up, one by one.

— The insight —

The surface wasn’t the real issue.

It was what had shifted underneath.

Roots, erosion, small changes over time.

Nothing dramatic, but enough to throw things off.

It’s easy to focus on what’s visible.

To press things back into place without looking deeper.

To assume what’s off is happening at the surface.

But most things don’t become uneven all at once.

They settle that way slowly.

And they usually need to be met at the level where they shifted.

— The shift —

Before fixing something, pause.

Look beneath the surface of it.

Ask what’s actually out of place.

Make a small adjustment there.

Then let the rest follow.

— From the canyon —

Some bricks came up easily.

Others held their place longer than expected.

A few went back without much effort.

Others needed to be adjusted again and again.

Not perfectly even, but steady enough to walk across without thinking.