Waiting and watching

Yesterday morning we kept telling Callie, our border collie, that we were having visitors in the afternoon. She knew something was up, because we were busy in the kitchen — cooking — and all around the house — picking up, straightening up, and cleaning up — in unusual ways.

Callie just decided to wait. Something out of the ordinary was obviously happening. She sat out on the front deck, over in the corner closest to the road, watching and listening. If a car drove up the hill to our hamlet, she'd be ready. There were several false alarms — the cars didn't stop at our door. Anticipation made her excitement level skyrocket.

Keeping an eye out

But the wait was long. Callie didn't know, of course, what time the visitors were expected to arrive. She stayed at her lookout post for a couple of hours, and finally got bored. Or frustrated, or tired. We kept talking to her, but she saw no evidence of cars or people arriving. I'm not sure she believed us.

Listening for clues

Then when Bill and Sharon arrived, Callie was overjoyed. Luckily, Bill and Sharon love dogs. And luckily for us all, the weather turned off very nice — warm enough for us to sit out on the terrace for three hours and get acquainted. And to enjoy some food and drink too.

Wondering if the time would ever come

Sharon took Callie out into the yard three or four times during the afternoon to throw the ball and explore the garden. Before we sat down to eat, we all went to see the grapes on the vines just outside our back gate one last time, and to watch the big yellow harvester taking in the 2010 crop. What a nice afternoon.