Every Fourth of July the local swimming pool has free admission. A couple of hundred people cram through the gate to cool off, and the line for buying snacks is always long. I favor the ice cream sandwiches myself. 

One of the activities is a coin toss. Someone chucks a bucket of pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters into the shallow end and a million kids hurl into the fray to collect it. There are races too, and blue ribbons handed out. 

In the grassy part of the property there is a horseshoe contest. I have never competed, because that would be embarrassing. But I have heard the crowd cheer when the shoe clanks around the peg. Near misses are less celebrated. But they still get a whoop. Especially if it is a child trying his or her hand at a new sport. 

The other day I was listening to someone who began the conversation with a disclaimer. 

"I don't really feel like talking." 

Still I gave my full attention, and each time she tossed a nugget I tried to respond.

"You are feeling discouraged?"

"No, that's not it. I am just not sure how much I care about it anymore."

"So part of you wants to make it work, and part of you doesn't. Is that right?"

"Kind of. But really the issue is I have poured so much effort into it in the past and it hasn't gone anywhere. So what is the point?"

I made a few more stabs at mirroring, and mostly missed. But the interesting thing is, every time she corrected me she got closer to understanding her own feelings, which admittedly are a moving target. After twenty minutes of back and forth, there was no clank of connection. Yet somehow she seemed to have come closer to clarity within herself. 

No ribbons for me, but I call it a win.