Wordless Wednesday

Oregon Holocaust Memorial

"All of us children were crying for our parents.
A guard came over to us and yelled,
'Stop all of your whining!
See that chimney, see that smoke,
smell that stench in the air?
That is your parents.' "

Today I am thankful that this memorial of man's inhumanity to man made me cry. That I am not over the pain of what happened to my fellow human beings. That this still saddens me deeply. Is it too much to hope that one day such inhumanity will have ended?

Wordless Wednesday

Graduation

I guess it's about time to post the pictures from the graduation. It was quite an impressive ceremony, the largest ever in the Oregon University System! PSU awarded approximately 5,920 degrees, including 3,825 bachelor's degrees, 1,735 master's degrees and 60 doctoral degrees. The degree recipients were each called by name to receive their degrees, and together with the speakers, it took just under three hours. Not bad! The ceremony was held at the Rose Garden Arena, where the Portland Trailblazers play, and each of the students was displayed on the jumbotron as the accepted their diplomas.

Here's Lizzie, BS History, with Honors.












And here's Pat, BS Communication Studies, Film Studies minor, with Honors.












The commencement address was given by Scott Davis, CEO of UPS and a PSU grad in 1974. His words of wisdom included: "Develop a beginner's mind. Embrace mistakes. Trust your gut. Broaden your horizons. And above all else, don't listen to the naysayers in life. They are like a wet blanket smothering your dreams."



After the ceremony we had a little party for the grads, which included

the Rutledge guys








and the Rutledge girls, with Granddad.









Lizzie's aunt made a card for her, using Granddad's college diploma on the front! How cool is that for a History major!








Pat and Lizzie in their graduation caps, gowns, and Honors regalia. Good job, kiddos!

More Portland

It's raining again in Portland. Who would have thought....?








It didn't stop these folks from some noontime exercise.








I walked along the PSU skybridges and took these photos:





















The Portland State University motto:

Let knowledge serve the city.








Inside one building, this door was propped open with this bench!
Hmmmm.......








We left Youngest Daughter's apartment building when the fire trucks showed up!

Wordless Wednesday

Day Two

First up -- find some breakfast. We ended up at The Stepping Stone Cafe where their motto is: "You eat here because we let you." And yes, they had that attitude. But the food was good.






Wandering around after breakfast, we found lots of interesting things:
A map of the world made of colorful plants,








people watching a parade,







which included:























and the mascot of one of CU's new opponents:









blue sky:









tall buildings:












a kitty with a bird's eye view:









and a lushness we just don't often see in Colorado:













Look at the size of this flower:

Portland Adventure Begins

So --- which airport would have carpeting like this? Why, Aspen Airport, of course!







Our morning flight out of Aspen was just perfect. A beautiful beginning for our Portland adventure.







Since we were in a relatively small plane, we seemed to land at quite a distance from DIA!







We arrive in PDX......








...and go right away to the PSU History Department's Honors and Awards ceremony. Can you tell what this young man did his Master's thesis on?






We strolled through PDX where I found this wonderful seating area, with plants growing on the roof!











Dinner was wonderful Thai curries at Baan Thai. Great food, great dining companions, great beginning for our latest adventure.