9-10-23

 9-10-23 Chamberlayne Elementary school. Cloudy, ground wet, 72 degrees, minimal wind, short grass

Began laying track @ 10:30am, started running it @ 11:15

4 turns, 465 yards total. 1 food drop/leg except 4th leg had 2. Metal article (dish scrubber) on 3rd leg.

Goal was to get back in the swing of things on a day with reasonable weather at a place I could easily get to.

While putting harness on, moderately hard rain began. We started anyway, the rain lasted about 5-10 minutes, then quit. Sun came out while we were on 4th leg.

Approached start from the side, so the start was essentially a left hand turn. Started nicely after indicating article. I kept the line at 10’ for a while, gradually letting it out to 20’ by the 3rd leg. Seren had to think about a cover change from grass to pine needles about halfway down 1st leg, but no similar behavior when going back to plain grass. Checked both directions, primarily right, before proceeding straight. First 2 turns were open & to the right, no issues. Totally missed metal article on 3rd leg. Checked & discarded as irrelevant football about 10’ off the track. Third turn 90 degrees to the right, then crossed a concrete sidewalk without appearing to notice it. Last turn 90 degrees to the left. Excellent indication of final article.

Assessment: Seren was her typical methodical self, handled the cover change well - I hadn’t even thought about it when laying the track, shame on me. I was disappointed, but not surprised, that she missed the middle article. Track was probably too long for 1st one after several weeks off, but she showed no evidence of being tired or bored.

Maybe I can figure out how to add a picture to this thing, assuming I have actually figured out the other stuff.

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