The dog and the apple tree in the pasture are two of my favorite photographic subjects, the old apple tree is graceful, filled with twists and curves, like life itself. This winter, the sheep and the donkeys nearly killed it, tearing at the barn in their frustration over the snow and ice. We covered it in chicken wire, it is healing well, the tree is tough. Simon is buried just beneath it, he loved to stand in the shade there.

When Red walked up and staked out his position under one of the limbs, it seemed to me that the world had conspired to paint a portrait of the farm and our life there. Red’s favorite thing in the world is to sit about 50 feet from the tree and just keep an eye on the sheep.

At that distance, the sheep are not troubled by him, they don’t move away or pay much attention. A few feet closer, he is in their zone. I stood there for a long time, taking it in, and then the sun and the sky decided to come out and join the painting, and it was time to take the picture. The photo was taken with an 8-15 mm wide angle lens.