Gwen Lash - So Long, Farewell

Tomorrow we head for home. It is a little sad and a bit of a relief. Spending two and a half weeks with twenty three people, who at the beginning were little more than complete strangers, is a little rough. At times we wanted to throttle each other and at others we may have felt that we couldn't be closer, but now that draws to an end. The time we have spent here has been wonderful; the friendships we have made and the knowledge we have gained will stay with us for the rest of our... well, to be honest... awhile. They will stay for us for as long as it is important and for as long as we can find the journals we wrote and souvenirs we bought. In class-related terms I can honestly say that I will never look at a public garden in the same way again. I can now see what ideals are reflected in the gardens and social commentary they contain. Now I can also tell in what period of time the garden was created or at least what time it was imitating and which details indicate what; the same goes for architecture. However, Morris' ideas and his followers are the main thing I will take away. The Arts and Crafts movement I find to be a very compelling lifestyle. The ideas that all things we use in our lives should be beautiful and all things we find beautiful should be useful. The blurred line between art and craft is more important than I think we realize. It influences our choices in almost everything, for our homes and and our lives.