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SEA TO SHINING SEA: With Vicki in Eugene

They're setting up Memorial Day celebrations on the University of Oregon camps. These red flags commemorate those who have lost their lives in service to their country and those who have lost their lives in war-related activities.  At the far end of the heart of the campus is a big O on the front of the School of Business.  The main campus green is shaded on both sides by more of the magnificent black oaks. BY DENNIS FORNEY
dennis_forney
May 22, 2013
These white flags symbolize the estimated 1,200 college students who take their lives each year and efforts designed to help them realize that while suicide is a choice, it is by all means not the only choice.
Villard Hall, an impressive stone Victorian structure, is hidden amongst the campus's monumental evergreens.  Green, green, green!
These next two are for my friend David - some wisdom from the frieze of a liberal arts building.
And a statue of a frontiersman on the campus, with buckskin clothing, a whip in one hand, and a rifle slung over his shoulder.  Daniel Boone, whose posture was ramrod straight until he died at the age of 92, was this kind of guy.  It's all that oxygen that kept him so strong and long-lived.

DAY 8 - Lots of rain today and they say it's snowing up in the Cascades where we're heading in a few days.  We'll stop at Bill's house for a visit along the way.  Bill and I went to school together many decades ago.

Today we holed up again.  This time in the Timbers Motel just a few blocks from the University of Oregon campus. We planned to get together with Vicki for dinner.  Vicki used to live in Lewes and Rehoboth before she moved west.  Now she lives in Eugene in the summer and Key West in the winter.  In both places she sells her hand-painted clothing and tiles.

She's watched Beast of the Southern Wilds 12 times and says it's the best movie she has seen in 10 years.  I agree with Vicki - it's an awesome story about a part of America that few people know exists.

Before we met up for an Indian dinner at the Evergreen, Becky and I walked through the heart of the U of O campus.  Full of rain, shimmering and so lush, the big specimen trees, stately and dignified, humbled me as I craned my neck toward them in admiration. I swear the air is so oxygenated it made my lungs smile and made my brain feel almost as smart as if I was wearing horn-rimmed glasses.

Just six miles today.  Slackers.  Averaged 8.9 mph.  276 feet of ascent.  Total now is up to 244 miles.  Calling for more rain tomorrow.  Rain and cold.  It's getting past mid-May for God's sake. Vicki says Eugene has a 10-month growing season.  She started planting vegetable seeds Jan. 10.  Peas up to her waist now.  She also recommends a fusion band called Delhi to Dublin. Wide-ranging conversation. Lots of positive.

Here are a few pictures from University of Oregon.  You all be good and remember that God loves you.

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