Awesome Picture

Every year Neil and his Mom go to The South Eastern Flower Show together. Plants are something that they are both passionate about so this is something that they can share together. This year Neil was especially excited because of who was going to be there. Michael A Dirr is a professor at Georgia. He is not only a professor, but he is known all over the world for the books that he has written on Horticulture. If Neil had decided to continue his education in Horticulture he would have had Dr. Dirr as one of his professors. Neil is currently reading a book, that is about 2 inches thick, that Dr. Dirr wrote.
Anyways, after the lecture Neil and his Mom were making their way up to the front to speak to Dr. Dirr and when they came around the corner Neil saw Dr. Dirr speaking to Vince Dooley. Apparently, they are very good friends and Vince Dooley was there to support his friend. Not to mention that Vince Dooley is passionate about Horticulture too and just wrote a book himself. This is one of the coolest pictures...

Neil said it was awesome to have the former Athletic Director for UGA on one side and Dr. Dirr on the other. He is very proud of this picture - even though you can tell he is frustrated with his Mom because she was taking so long to take the picture. :)

Alright, Jenn wanted to post the picture above tonight so I said thats fine. She relays the emotions of our photos better than I ever could or would. However, since this was one of the coolest things that has ever happened to me (childern's birth and marriage being up there) I will just add a few things. First, Jenn is showing her age a little to call Vince Dooley an AD. For those concerned I called him Coach Dooley when I shook his hand. He is a plant guy by the way. He just released a book about his journey to the world of horticulture. This leads me to the second man in the picture, Dr. Michael A. Dirr. Coach Dooley told me that it was Dr. Dirr that sparked his interest in horticulture when he would sit in on Dirr's classes. Dirr's books have done the same for me or at least given me a better understanding of plants and how enviroments affect them. From propagation to indentification, much of what I have learned has come from reading his books. He is an engaging guy who was pumped to meet a fellow Agriculture grad from UGA. I don't get excited about much but I about pissed myself when I got to take a picture with both of them. About the picture itself, my mom was having trouble understanding that you need to hold the button down until the flash goes off. As you can see in the picture, Dr. Dirr and I are about done with it by the time the camera finally snapped. Coach Dooley must be used to this kind of situation because he never came off his smile. Even with the photo delay, I have much respect for my mother as a person. She is the one who created an enviroment that made all of her kids so diverse in their interest. We all have a love of something. Some hobby that keeps us going. My gift from her was plants. It might have been the gardens I used to plant with my mother or her love of flowers that actually created my passion for plants. Not sure. I do know that my time spent with her at these shows or walking her property and discussing trees or heirloom flowers, is when I feel the closest to my mother. We butt heads quite a bit on most days, so thats why these molments we spend together mean so much to me. We don't say it alot in our family, but Mom I love you. Thank you.