Last night after dinner, as the sun was setting, we took Kona on a little walk. We ended up at this run-down old quarter mile track that lies well behind the middle school. In the center of the oval, Brian unclipped Kona from her leash, which always makes me nervous, and they ran about for a while.

The field was teeming with evening bugs, so a few swallows were taking turns skimming the surface of the grass, chasing insects. Kona, who is always excited by birds, zeroed in on one of them and gave chase. She made a wide arc across the field, stretching out to a full gallop. It was impressive; she is a very fast dog. She made it all the way to the edge of the oval, which I considered too far, so we called her back. It was good to see that even with that big distraction, she still came running toward us.

She really is quite an amazing dog.