Mad Dawg and AP

Blipping is a hard business sometimes. These two wags, Mad Dawg (Madie) and AP (Anna), former yearbook editors for two years for me at the school, are now both sophomores, soon to be juniors at the University of Oregon. So when they were home on spring break, they wanted to get together for breakfast. I joined them at our favorite breakfast nook, the Wildwood Cafe in McMinnville, and this time they treated me. We caught up on all the local gossip over eggs and coffee, laughed and reminisced. It was a thoroughly enjoyable morning, and when I left, after this snapshot, I promised the next breakfast was on me.

I said that blipping is hard because I had a pretty nice shot of America's largest cottonwood tree, a discovery I made today at Willamette Mission State Park while walking Kirby about. But when I thought about my choice, a tree 280 years old, and these two 20 year olds, it seemed pretty clear to me. If my time on Blip is to reflect my days and my life, I'd like it to most accurately capture those around me, those who I've worked with, those I've taught, those important to me. So Mad Dawg and AP won out in the end, over a stately 160 feet tall, 280 year old cottonwood tree. For the record, these two have better smiles than the tree does, although the tree wins in longevity and overall posture. For those of you wishing to get a glimpse of the tree, you can see it right here.