The Daytona 500 is coming up February 24. But the Great American Race has nothing on Reacher and Vega who compete almost daily on the raceway in our yard. Reacher is really the track star in the family. He loves to run. Just for the fun of it. And he can often be seen sprinting around and around the house as fast as his four legs will carry him. All by himself. Just because.
He loves it even more if Vega joins him. More precisely, he loves it when she chases him. While he's in it for the racing, she's in it for the chasing. For the catching, actually. She likes to grab Reacher by the collar, then twist, twist, twist, until she's got him pinned to the ground.
Whatever. He's good with it as long as there's a lot of running first. While Vega is without a doubt the faster of the two on the straightaways, Reacher has her beat on the curves and the turns. She can't quite compete with him when he dodges in and out of bushes and around trees.
Most of the time they circle the large pine island in the front yard. That's where Reacher has the advantage and can keep Vega running after him for the longest period of time. While he doesn't have a set course, he usually starts by zipping past the azaleas, along the edge of the railroad ties, around the tall pines and back again. He may dodge across the open space in the middle if he's feeling particularly fast.
Eventually though, he makes a tactical mistake, or maybe he just slows down a bit. At any rate, Vega always catches him. After some good natured wrestling, Reacher somehow manages to get away. And it all starts again.
Reacher never seems to tire of this game of tag. It's Vega who always calls it quits. Never one to take no for an answer, Reacher barks at her, runs at her and does whatever he can to goad Vega into one more chase.
More often than not, she just turns and gives me a look that says, "Who can understand boys?" before trotting to the back door. That's my girl!
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