Dinner with the Dogs
We met friends, Mary and Bob, at the race track. Their friends Lavern (We even know her "real" name!) and Cliff were along too. We followed the receptionist to our front row table. Just though the glass the dirt track was being cleaned. Somewhere the greyhounds were getting ready. Dinner was yummy. We had salad, and grilled talapia on a bed of wild rice served with a green beans and bacon mix. Cliff's sandwich wrap and Mary's chicken basket looked good too. As we finished dinner the dogs came out. There are seven or eight in each race. Handlers all dressed in dark slacks and blue polo shirts, walk them to the center where a guy checks their stance and number vest. Then the handlers walk the dogs to the gate. Once in the gate the handlers run down the track to wait for thier dogs. Moments later the announcer yells out, "Here comes Harley". 
That means the rabbits on a stick move around the track and when they pass the gate the dogs are released. For the first few races we picked winners, then Mary and Cliff started betting. We joined the betting a few times. We like to be a little more aggressive betting the dog to win; Mary and Cliff were betting to show meaning their dog could come in first, second or third and they still got money. Times we didn't bet our dog won, but when we bet the dumb things just ran with the pack. We had a TV at our table so we had a close-up view of the races and even got to see reruns! It was a fun night out with friends. We were the last to leave. We watchd the last race from outside standing at the track. We could hear the dogs barking at one another while waiting in line. We could hear the handlers running back panting. We could hear the click of the gate opening, the wiz of the rabbits pass, and the thunder of paws coming down the track. It was great.
Comments