Santa Cruz Auto Repair

At Nate Smith’s Optimal Auto Care in Santa Cruz, we’re passionate about serving our community both on and off the road. Recently, I stepped away from the shop for a day to take part in something truly special: Monterey County’s Farm Day at the Salinas Rodeo Grounds. Alongside my trusty Border Collie, Gordy, I joined other local ranchers and farmers to help bring the world of agriculture to life for third graders from across the region. It was a refreshing change of pace, filled with the laughter and curiosity of young minds discovering the hard work and joy behind farming. This annual event is held for all third graders in Monterey County, bringing agriculture to life for thousands of young students. It’s a big event with three locations each year—Salinas, King City, and Monterey—ensuring every third grader can experience it. Each Farm Day features stations where the kids learn about different aspects of farming, from crops to livestock. I was ther ... read more

  Susan is a 16 ½ year old Border Collie.  She was a champion herding dog when she was young, but I didn’t meet her until she had been “retired” from herding.   My involvement in sheep herding came as just the byproduct of us getting a rescue Border Collie (Cooper).  I will explain Cooper’s story elsewhere.  However, after Cooper got older and started to slow down, we got Gordy.  Gordy turned out to be way above my skill level, so I looked for additional training opportunities.  Our friend Glen has sheep at his small ranch in Prunedale and we started practicing there.  And that’s where I first met Susan.  Susan was owned by our friend Mimi, who had run her in competition while Susan could compete.   Some of the time, Mimi and I trained our sheep dogs together; sometimes we practiced together; often we encouraged each other through training problems, and sometimes we even competed against each ot ... read more