Callie the collie

Callie is a "red" border collie. When we decided we wanted a border collie, we assumed we'd get a black and white dog. But we got Callie. She is 7½ years old now. Here's a view of her that I see very often. We take a walk in the vineyard every day.

Sometimes Callie follows behind me on our walk, but mostly she goes out ahead. Sometimes she runs along a parallel row in the vines. She basically knows our route, but she'll wait for me if we come to a point where I might choose to go one way or another — pour varier les plaisirs. Often I just let her lead.

Here's Callie as we get back to our yard. I snapped this shot through the leaves and branches of a tarragon plant that I have growing in an old plastic paint bucket. In the photo you can also see some lavender, some sage, two apple trees, the vegetable garden, the garden shed, and, in the distance, a plum tree that I planted a few years ago.