Upon learning that our biking group hasn’t visited Rain and Shine in 4 years, we concluded that time must be flying :), and that each of us actually has visited individually in the meantime.  We remember as a group first visiting within 3 months of the shop’s opening when the layout of all wooden chairs and tables was in a very school-like, restrictive set-up, and then 18 months later when the furniture and layout was looser with several cushioned sofas and couches around the periphery.  Even then it was obvious with their supply of games and reading materials, they sought to provide a relaxing hang-out atmosphere for their patrons.

So while now there are no couches and just a couple of cushioned chairs, Rain/Shine has inserted a  nice set of faux windows to serve as a partition – which highlights all of their wonderfully large windows – to go along with their array of other homey amenities.  And that’s not to mention that they bake many of their pastries in their open kitchen.  We all agree that they ably achieve their stated goal of “drink, eat, gather.”

With C. still in Portland before heading back to Denver for his 2 week routine there, today’s primary discussion topics were environmental sustainability and equity.  And we dug deep into the weeds around such nuanced topics of how one speaks of/defines social justice, climate change, and the like.  Particularly interesting re equity was how various cultures in the past may have redistributed resources such at the potlatches of Native Americans, and the Jewish culture’s take on a 7th year Sabbatical or Jubilee, when land was to lie fallow, debts be forgiven, slaves freed, and land redistributed back to original families.  A basic premise in both cultures was that the lands were sacred and not to be privately owned.  Radical indeed.

5941 SE Division       http://www.rainorshinepdx.com/