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.
Potter’s Field in Tacoma. Dear husband and I went to the Wheelock Library to attend an interesting lecture about Tacoma’s Haunted History on Saturday and I learned about Tacoma’s Potter’s Field. I hadn’t realized that about 1,600 were buried on this two acre site between the 1880s and the 1920s. These were the people that had no funds to afford a proper funeral and their remains became the responsibility of the Pierce County. There is an excellent article about the cemetery here. We took a driving tour through the lovely Tacoma and Oakwood Cemeteries to finally find the Pauper’s Cemetery situated adjacent to the Tacoma Mausoleum. I recognized the wooden boundary fence from the video in the News Tribune article. The cemetery itself isn’t accessible to the public, but I did snap a shot from an opening in the fence. It was fascinating to me that while there were just a couple of headstones in sight, there are a reported 1,600 individuals are interred here in unmarked graves. Two of the photos show the fence that divides the Potter’s Field from the maintained cemetery near the mausoleum. There are also a couple of photos of the other two cemeteries.
Street Daffodils
There are four daffodils painted in the street near Washington Elementary School on the corner of North 26th and North Washington Street. I suspect it is an acknowledgement of the annual Junior Daffodil parade that occurs each year in the Proctor District. Really, I would have done a lovely closeup photo of one of the yellow flowers, but the street was very busy and I value my life!
WooHoo! The blog is loading photos again without a struggle. To celebrate, here is a lovely shot through my windshield (I’m not proud) of a double rainbow.
I convinced my dear husband to go with my to Lakewold Gardens to see their annual display of table settings. It ended up that we both really enjoyed both the tables and the estate.
Finally I had a free day to snap a photo of the temporary art installation, Envision. It is easy piece to miss, especially on a sunny day. It is located on the pedestrian bridge (skybridge) that connects two buildings (the Keystone Building and the Science Building) on the University of Washington, Tacoma campus. Envision is one of the installations that make up the Temporal Terminus: Marking the Line exhibit which is in place through the end of November. The project’s website states:
SITE 7: UW-T Pedestrian Bridge
Title: Envision
Artists: Jeremy Gregory, Diane Hansen, Ed Kroupa
Gigantic eyes look down on the campus from the pedestrian bridge. Are they benevolent? Visionary? Judging? That depends. The eyes are those of Abraham Lincoln, the visionary whose dream it was to complete a transcontinental rail that would meet the Pacific. Is he overlooking his accomplishment or wondering about this particular route’s demise and our crazy modern lives? Walking over the ped bridge, one experiences a different viewpoint and inspiration for the endurance of vision.
(Drat, I should have walked over the bridge!)
http://tacomaarts.wordpress.com/2011/11/10/prairie-line-trail-public-art-tour-draft/
Look here for more on the UWT campus. http://www.tacoma.washington.edu/shopuwt/docs/walking_tour.pdf
Update: October 2016. I finally crossed over on the sky bridge so here is an inside photo. Also a photo taken from above.
Mostly this is to check to see if I can get an image on WordPress. They have upgraded and it really isn’t easy to upload a photo right now. But I wrote them a nice note and I’m sure they will fix it pretty soon. I am finding I can upload using my phone if I go in directly through the app. Many of my photos are from a camera so The app is in a long-term solution. 
I wonder how I add tags from here.
The Washington State Fair’s 1917 Merry Go Round is the oldest active carnival ride at the Fair, operating there since 1923. I learned that seniors, 62+, qualify to ride for free! No, I don’t qualify.
The fair had a glorious last day of it’s run with the weather sunny and in the mid-70s. It was packed!
Here are a couple of photos of the merry go round, as well as a couple of other shots. Apparently I can’t stay out of the floral building!
