Several years ago, my daughter Alexandra took a photo-journalism class at Southern Oregon University while she was still a senior in high school. Her instructor for this class was Dennis Dunleavy. Alexandra did nothing but rave about Dennis – he was encouraging, talented, dedicated. I was happy to see Alexandra so engaged and she was thrilled to be treated as a professional; not just a kid who could write well.
I met Dennis later that year at his exhibition at the Schneider Museum. Displayed were amazing black and white photographs of people from Latin America. The images were haunting, crisp and clean. They had captured the craziness of war: beautiful children holding machine guns as naturally as if they were holding a toy. What an incredible juxtaposition of innocence and violence.
Today I arranged to meet with Dennis and talk to him about my blog project. He had some idea of what I was doing and knew that I wanted to get some professional advice. Who better to turn to for help? Dennis has been blogging for seven years now and is a great teacher.
We met at the Boulevard Cafe. Dennis and I chatted about my blog and he gave me advice, hope and encouragement. And, of course, I gave him a warm pie. He said he’d like to learn how to make a good pie crust. I told him that it was easy to do – and he made me feel as if what I do with ease might actually be hard for someone. My wish for today: that he learns as much from me as I hope to learn from him.
Pie a Day Give Away 
Great fun. What a wonderful idea. I got in and figure out the blogroll. I forgot to enable the widget. Ooops. Thanks so much for the yummy pie.
That’s just how I felt when helping you make bagels–what is simple and automatic for you is hard for the rest of us. One of the great things I love about you, Karen, is that you are kind and generous in teaching.