I had the most amazing experience with Scout last night. You all know she has arthritis, right? And she hops on her right front leg, which can make getting around a little tough. And getting up and down is difficult.

But this girl, this incredible girl, doesn’t let it stop her.

Especially here. She takes delight in all the people, the activity, the smells, and the park. She seems to have blossomed here, which tells me her life at home is secure but maybe a little boring. She’s used to it. The stimulation of this new place has been really good for her.

So, at about 9:45 last night, I took her out to take care of business. We ended up in the park, which was lit by lights that border the sidewalks. Sort of dreamy and wonderful. She did her thing and then she proceeded to lope around and around the lawn. She was on a leash, so I let her take the lead while I followed. On and on she loped, even galloped at times, no matter that she had to hop. She circled and loped and ran, her eyes were bright and she was joyous and she wouldn’t stop. I laughed out loud, so full of happiness in that moment that I thought I would burst.

She has had a lot of excess energy when I’ve arrived home the last two evenings and I guess she had to get that out. I can’t tell you how amazing and wondrous the whole experience was. My 15½ year old girl was carefree, happy, filled with joy. As we traveled back to the apartment on the sidewalk, I actually had to jog to keep up with her! I texted Don immediately (he was onstage) and told him about it.

Such a gift. This time in Hartford with her has been hard at times, but I realize now that she has needed this stimulation. This is an adventure and my girl loves an adventure. Daddy and I promise to give you more adventures when we get back home, dear one.

I am deeply grateful this morning. My heart is full. How lucky I am that our work situation required Scout’s presence here in Hartford. To see her this excited about a new experience at this stage in her life has been worth it.

I love my girl, this girl we call our ‘magic dog.’ She is an angel who blesses everyone she meets.

On the other side of the coin, it’s the Hartford Marathon today and I’m sitting here with earplugs in my ears trying to mute the incredibly loud rock music coming from the park. It started at 7:30 am. I’m sure the actors in the company were not real happy about that. So I have the Singers and Swing channel going on the television, earplugs in as well, while Scout is in the tunnel sleeping through the whole thing. But I’m so happy about our experience last night that even the blaring music can’t bring me down.

If you missed it, I wrote a review of Personal by Lee Child yesterday. It’s on Just Let Me Finish This Page.

Happy Saturday.