I was delighted to see a couple of seals swimming in the icy cold Puget Sound while dear husband and I enjoyed our lunch at Anthony’s at Point Defiance. Afterward lunch I took a brisk stroll and found this Life Jacket Loaner Station. A little research informed me that stations such as these are fairly common. A list of many of them (but not this one!) can be found here.
I read about the “Colored” art exhibit located in the Carpenters Building at 1328 Fawcett Avenue, Tacoma, on the King 5 News Website. Dear daughter, her friend and I arrived around 4, which apparently was well after it had closed for the day. When I mentioned that dear daughter was returning to college and that this was her only chance to see the exhibit, they kindly allowed us to go through. It was a great exhibit and I plan to go back and spend more time. The murals, by Chris Jordan, were painted in inverted colors. We looked at them normally and then with our iPhones set to reverse colors and the difference was amazing. Chris Jordan even spared us a moment to visit with us about his art. When I go back I’ll be sure to spend more time and to appreciate the other artists as well.
My understanding is that the exhibit has been extended to run an extra few weeks.
The exhibition space is in the Carpenters Building which had been the Carpenter’s Union Hall which was designed by McGuire and Muri, architects and was constructed in 1955. The Kiro article said “The inside ones (murals) will soon be hidden by the upcoming Carpenters hall renovation“.
#colored2017
As we often do, dear daughter and I attended First Night to usher in the new year. And her friend, Z, came with us as she so often does. It was extra cold, but not raining, so we were happy and did all of our normal First Night things. This year we were offered long wooden sticks and a S’More packet (two marshmallows, a chocolate square and two graham crackers). It was such gooey sticky fun to make our own.
I really admire those folks with passion and commitment to their art. This roadside attraction at 18212-18414 22nd Avenue, Tacoma (Spanaway) is an example of such personal drive. It is on a private residence with good visibility from the street. The property fronts on both 22nd Avenue (the rose) and 183rd Street Court East and my Roadside America App tells me the work is called Concrete Fantasia.
Point Ruston has a new Cafe, the Jewel Box Cafe. It is obvious they put a great deal of thought into their darling decor and there are some lovely details. There is a old-fashioned case to display their pastries and a functioning fireplace that is both indoor and outdoor, opulent velvet seating and several enclose private booths. I had the berry crepe and my dear husband had the cinnamon bun and they were both delicious. 
So, the United States Post Service (#USPS) has an app that converts mailboxes into magical gingerbread houses (or gingerbread mailboxes or gingerbread fireplaces or something!). I downloaded the free app, found a mailbox and the app captured the mailbox and before my eyes made it into a work of holiday art. Things I learned include:
Our kitchen is not huge and we had three people cooking a Thanksgiving feast there, so I finished my part and took off for a Starbucks and some fresh air. I often drive over to the mall on Thanksgiving. It’s pretty close and I find the empty parking lots soothing. But this year the JC Penney’s lot was nearly full! And people were inside and others were rushing toward the entry doors.
So while I like many of the stances that Penney’s has taken over the years, I’m not to sure about this being open for at least part of Thanksgiving. I sincerely hope their employees are getting overtime. Judging by the crowded parking lot, it is probably worth Penney’s time to be open, at least financially. The rest of the mall appeared to be closed (and thus soothing!). And Best Buy across the street had folks lined up, many had tents. But also folks inside. Not sure what was happening there. It was about 3:30.
Dear Daughter, home for her last Thanksgiving Break, needed to visit Mt. Rainier as part of her geology class. OK, fine, I like Mt. Rainier. I pack up my emergency backpack, extra blankets, water in case we hit bad weather and dear husband and off we went. Luckily there are many pullouts from the street near the mountain and DD got her photos. Not the full glorious mountain, of course, because it was raining and even snowing, but some close ups of rocks that seemed to make her happy. We got as far as Longmire and had lunch and checked out the small museum (the Longmire Museum at Mt. Rainier). I was so busy staring at the vicious face on this little weasel that I didn’t notice his poor prey until I reexamined the photo!
So here are the photos. Beside the Longmire Museum there are two shots of the Mountain taken on clearer days, a photo of the road going through the National Park, the porch at the lodge and the graffiti rocks approaching the park.
BTW, you need to have chains in your vehicle to enter the park after November 1st. It gets dark at about 3 pm in the winter (its all those trees!). There is no cell service on the mountain (at least the part we were at). Here is a link to Longmire. And Happy Thanksgiving.
Dad and the two kids are going for a rainy day stroll near the public sidewalk in DuPont on Center Street near McNeil Street. The statue is called Annie’s Walk.
Update 12/16 – I discovered that the artist is Judy Phipps Mickelson and that she used her own family as the models. The piece is a bronze and there are similar pieces available for sale. The artist’s website is here.
Great Udon at the Tacoma Hongwanji Buddhist Church
My udon and mochi at Tacoma’s Buddhist Church during their Fall Bazaar were delicious and my husband said his miso soup really hit the spot. Our meal was served by the nicest volunteer waitstaff and our tea was topped off on a regular basis. Really the fall festival was a positive experience.
The Buddhist property at 1717 Fawcett Avenue, in Tacoma, is sometimes referred to as a temple and sometimes as a church. The building, which features a lovely red tile roof and stone lanterns flanking the main door, was originally constructed in 1930 for its current use. It is listed on the city, state and national historic registers. One interesting note to the building’s history is that it was closed in May 1942 for the duration of World War II. Many of the members of the congregation were sent to Camp Harmony (now the site of the Puyallup Fair) and the leader of the church taught Sunday School at the camp. The camp was a detention center for Japanese Americans during the war.
Luckily that time is behind us.
