A Great Adventure Begins Part 1 Meeting David

 "Meet me at the Inverted Fountain by Knudsen Hall at 11:00 on the UCLA campus."

Last Friday I had a great adventure.  I was to meet up with someone named David from Sydney Australia.  He is a friend and co-worker of my daughter Athena.  We had been emailing about a possible rendezvous so I could show him a little bit of Los Angeles. After several emailings we decided to meet up and spend a day together starting with a tour of  the UCLA campus in Westwood.  We set up the time and place.  "Let's meet at the Inverted Fountain by Knudsen Hall at 11:00."  Perfect I thought but then it occurred to me that neither of us knew what the other looked like.  I quickly shot off an email to David with the subject title, "I'm the one on the Left!"  I then attached a family photo with me on the left next to both of my daughters   ( he already knows one of them) and then my husband on the right.  Soon after I received a response from David with the subject title "I'm the one on the LEFT".   Attached was a picture of two people. The one on the right was Tom Hanks in an astronaut outfit from Apollo 13 and on the left was, of course, David.   That made me laugh so hard, realizing how obvious my photo was. Of course I'm Athena's mom I obviously am  the one on the left.   From that moment I knew I would like this guy!

Friday morning arrived and it was a very bright and hot day indeed.

Knudsen Hall is the Physics building on campus and it's where I worked for ten years. It is where I first met my husband Mike when he started graduate school.  It always feels a bit like I'm at home again  when I'm at UCLA.

I love this fountain which goes down, not up and thus its' name "Inverted".

Right on time David appeared and it was wonderful to begin our day's adventure together.
We started off with the main quad area and then to Powell library.  Here's David in front of  one of the original buildings on campus, Royce Hall.  I love this area of campus.

Just across the grassy area from Royce  Hall is Powell Library.  The interior of this library is so beautiful.  Though there are many new, modern libraries on campus this one is outstanding for it's lovely detailed architecture inside and out.

Once outside we are atop Janss steps which looks out toward the athletic field and far beyond to the UCLA dormitories in the distant hillside.

On our way   we just happen to bump into a dear friend who was my husband's

Doctoral thesis advisor.  Here I am pleasantly surprised by this encounter.

Me and Seth

At this point David has asked if I happen to know where the Jules Stein Eye Institute is on campus. I say I have heard of it and have an idea of where it is but am not quite sure.  David has a keen interest in Walt Disney.  He had met  with some Art Directors at the Disney studios in Glendale just the day prior, to discuss some project ideas that he has.  Their discussions included Mary Blair.  

Who is Mary Blair,  you may ask?

   Well tune in tomorrow to find out.