The Chocolate Lab is becoming
more adventurous, brave. On our
morning hikes out the back park-
ing lot onto the desert trail, he
used to stay on the trail never
veering into the wash or up the hill.
Now, off leash, he prances ahead,
sniffs the wind and makes little
figure eights like Dorothy Hamill
used to make warming up for
Olympic competition, dropping
down a ways into the wash and
back onto the trail moving back
toward me and then prancing a-
head, just full of his wild, animal
self. On the way back to the condo,
he glances ahead and spies a white,
desert quail. His ears perk and he
crouches a bit and moves slowly,
deliberately toward his prey. Nor-
mally, he would never be able to
catch such quarry, but today it sits
motionless as he sniffs what turns
out to be his white, poop bag, sit-
ting right where I left it to pick
up on our way back to the park-
ing lot.