We returned last night from a week on the mainland, during which Meda gave the 2011 commencement address at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. We made the 4-1/2 hour drive from Portland to WW and back along the Columbia River Gorge, with the river nearing flood stage. It was amazingly beautiful.

The Whitman commencement was like a movie scene set in a small town. The red brick buildings of this small, liberal arts college, set in a tiny town that has become the heart of Eastern Washington wine country, the spring leaves, the slow pace of Walla Walla contrasting with the excitement of the graduating class.

We were last in Walla Walla back in 1998.

Given the crowd, I couldn’t get any good photos of Meda giving her speech, but I did manage to record it on my iPhone.

We stayed an extra day in Walla Walla to get a better feel for the place. After an early walk followed by a leisurely breakfast, we were just getting ready to head out when the phone rang in our hotel room.

Listen up, you Whitties who might be reading this. It was retired professor George Ball, who was a very special person on campus for generations of students. He had tracked down our location, then rode his bicycle to the Marcus Whitman Hotel, where we were staying, and was waiting downstairs in the lobby to see us.

He announced that it was his 96th birthday.

During our conversation there in the lobby of the Marcus Whitman Hotel, I finally remembered to fire up the iPhone video. I’ll try to post some of that later today.

As we stood in the lobby, another man stopped.

“Are you George Ball?” he asked. Then he announced: “I took your class the first year you were here at Whitman. It was 1960.”

I’ll add his photo here later, along with a short video of Dr. Ball shot with my iPhone as we chatted.

In any case, here’s Dr. Ball with his bike as we said goodbye.