Friday, April 29

Today we set out early for Portland, as Rebecaa had a field trip w/ her class to see a law firm whose space a graduate from their scchool had designed, and then she had a midterm evaluation of her major studio project in the afternoon. While she was on her filed trip, Neal and I visited the Chinese Garden in downtown Portland that was very interesting and quite beutiful. It was quie amazing to learn how thought out everything is- how much symolism, etc.
See this patio flooring, for instance. with the Yin/Yang both in the form, the color, and the direction of the stones.Pretty amazing.

And here you can note that looking through the moon door, you can see the gardne that sets up a  yin/yang shpae as well

And then, it was just plain a real island of beauty and tranquility in the city -

 It was, however, quite cool, so we then walked some and warmed ourselves up in a Pendelton Store,and then had a great lunch with Rebecca and friends- then off to her presentation, where her studio project was reviewed by 3 different architecture professionals - each had 45 minutes with her.  We were impressed. All went well: It was a busy room with this going on for 12 students simultaneously for 3 hours! Her she/ it is. The project is redesigning a bulitding called Rosemount in DC into a Residential Treatment Facility and School for Adolescent Girls with Drug & Alcohol Problems:

We observed her for 2 sessions, then took a long walk in Portland, which was nice, especially as it was a bit warmer and there was a little sun.
We then had a great evening with some of her Portland friends, and I totally forgot to get a picture of it. Sorry. Now we are back in Eugene and ready for bed.
The weekend is supposed to be nicer and there is a rumor that we are going to be gardeners here tomorrow.
We are actually coming home on Monday night, so we just have 2 more days left of this fabulous vacation.
Love, Deb, Neal