Little Free Library at the corner of East ‘L’ Street and 68th Street and is part of the Boze Community Garden. It is a well constructed Little Free Library and has about a dozen books, mostly for children.
On the same parcel, there is the Boze Community Garden. More information about Tacoma’s Community Gardens can be found here.
WooHoo! Two Little Free Libraries in a row. Tacoma has a couple of dozen Little Free Libraries which were part of the Little Free Library Project. This Little Free Library was created by a grandfather/granddaughter team is located on the south side of N. 22nd between North Hudson Street and North Ferdinand Street.
This “Little Free Library” is unusual in that it has a two toned blue paint job and some kind of sports boards attached to the side. Inside there are over a dozen books.
Little Free Libraries is part of a community movement which offers free books. When I considered my first Little Free Library in November 2012, a Wikipedia article informed me that there were over 200 of these libraries. There are now over 15,000! Each of the libraries is registered and can be located by their GPS coordinates. Per the November 2012 website:
Back in November of 2012, Tacoma had two little free library, which were part of the Little Free Library Project. Now there must be a couple of dozen little free libraries and Lakewood, WA has two.
This “Little Free Library” is located at 10317 Interlaaken Drive SW, Lakewood, WA. It is unusual in that it is attached to a tree stump and has a darling dragonfly handle. Inside there are about a dozen books, but none for me today.
Little Free Libraries is part of a community movement which offers free books. When I considered my first Little Free Library in November 2012, a Wikipedia article informed me that there were over 200 of these libraries. There are now over 15,000! Each of the libraries is registered and can be located by their GPS coordinates. Per the November 2012 website:
I talked dear husband into coming with me to take sunset photos at the lovely Saltwater State Park, but when we got there the road was closed (seriously!). Well, ok, there must be other places around to see the sunset. So we drive around and find Redondo, which is a neighborhood community in Des Moines and Federal Way. Wikipedia tells that the area was originally designed as a resort, but over the years became a middle class residential community that centers around the lovely Redondo Beach. In addition to the residential homes, there is a Salty’s Restaurant, a marine museum, another restaurant which was closed at the time and some great public art. The beach features a fishing/viewing peer, boardwalk (above the beach), a diving tour, some amazing sunset views of Poverty Bay. The area is rumored to be named after the more famous Redondo Beach in California, which is famous for its surfing and beach volleyball.
I was at Pierce College Puyallup at 1601 39th Avenue SE, Puyallup, Washington 98374 for a meeting today. I had never been on this campus before, but it looking over their website, they have some interesting continuing ed classes.
Point Defiance Ruston Senior Center at 4716 N. Baltimore St., Tacoma has a community garden that I went to visit today as part of the 2013 Community Garden Harvest Tour. Actually I got a late start, so it was the only garden I got to. Guess that makes it the best! Really it was a very nice smaller garden. I was looking at it through the fence and somebody who works at the center came out to open up the gate for me. The garden, which had both vegetables and flowers, is part of the Master Gardener Program sponsored by Washington State University, Pierce County Extension.
Driving around Tacoma I found The Farm by Hug, which I of course read as the Hug Farm. I loved the idea of growing hugs! And the actuality of the garden was almost as good. It is a community garden sponsored by the Hilltop Urban Gardens. Their mission is “to develop systems for food sovereignty and create racial and economic justice”. To learn more, go to their website.
So, I joined my dear husband at a couple of estate sales. One of which was in the Village Green Community, a seniors only mobile home park at 2904 84th St S, Lakewood, WA 98499. That’s cool since I’ve not used a mobile home park as my new place before. It’s a really nice park, with plenty of pride of ownership.
The way cool Hat ‘n Boots Roadside American Art is located in Oxbow Park in the Georgetown Neighborhood of Seattle. Oxbow Park was created in 2003 and at the end of that month, Hat ‘n Boots were installed there. The art was fully installed by the middle of 2005. The art was originally part of a cowboy themed gas station, “Premium Tex”, that was built in 1954. The hat was over the gas station office and the boots were the restrooms (black for the guys and blue for the girls). The station closed in 1988 and fell into disrepair.
The park also includes a community garden, a children’s play area, some nice artistic touches and grassy picnic areas. It was pretty busy on this cold and foggy Saturday.
Update 2/13 there is a model of the Hat ‘N Boots at Seattle’s Museum of History and Industry. 
Metro Parks Tacoma’s Star Center at 3873 S. 66th St., Tacoma, WA 98409 is very nice. Their website says “The 32,000 square foot STAR Center offers a stunning new hall for rentals, a new music and dance studio, a demonstration kitchen, fitness room, as well as a dynamic indoor/outdoor children’s playground with an adjacent party rental space.” What surprised me the most was the Subway Restaurant in the building. http://www.metroparkstacoma.org/star/
I was there for the kick off of the Prop 1 Campaign. The school bond, which will go on the ballot on February 12th, would provide much needed funding to renovate or replace 14 schools and would also make safety repairs and many other Tacoma schools. The 14 schools are Washington*, SAMI, McCarver*, Wilson, Stewart*, Wainwright, Arlington, Browns Pt., Lyon, Birney, Grant, Boze, Downing and Hunt. The schools with * will maintain their historic character. http://www.tacoma.k12.wa.us/information/Documents/Proposition%201%20brochure.pdf
