Cars, Camels and Comida

I varied from my North End routine today. My wife joined me in walking up S Park Ave to the Fern Hill street fair. This annual gathering of displays and commercial booths is held in the historic business district at 84th st. The main attraction at the street fair is the large gathering of custom and classic cars. I particularly liked the paint job on the Li'l Whiner below.














Among the dozen or more vendors at the street fair, one displayed some "antiques," an item of which I recognized instantly. It had been a while since I'd seen the distinctive rounded can, but the Camel Repair Kit for rubber tire inner tubes was a close companion during my bike-riding youth.

Grace Community Church, a congregation that has served Tacoma for many years, has recently relocated here at 84th and Park Ave. They held their regular Sunday morning service while the street fair was in progress, and also manned a table outside for people interested in registering their children for the Daily Vacation Bible School coming up in another week.

The Safe Streets folks were also manning a table in front of the Turning Point salon. I can recommend Turning Point, as I get my hair cut there and most of the females in my family get their hair done there as well. Next to the salon, tienda Los Caballero was selling tamales for a dollar! There were several food options for people who wanted to stick around and listen to Steve and the Good Times play oldies, and $10 massages for anyone who rocked too hard. It was another brilliant sunny day today; great weather for the Fern Hill community to hang out together.

Patriotic Tacoma

On the evening of July 28, 2005, I walked streets between N 30th and UPS, beginning from the home of my friend, Pastor KM. I again enjoyed the many flags I saw flying from house fronts, like this one on N 30th. I suppose some of the patriotic bunting was hung in honor of the 4th, but homes flying both the American and British flags tell me that we are thinking of the 7th as well.
Speaking of the war on terrorism, I commend the Fiqh Council of North America for their fatwa against terrorism just issued. May God bless all who signed it!

Here's the part of Tacoma I've walked so far, filled in with light magenta:

Something Fishy

Tacoma has maintained a forested area around a creek that feeds into Puget Sound near where N Alder St meets N Ruston Way. I've walked all around this Puget Park now and have also walked the lower half of its densely canopied trail. My friend TW helped me find the Napoleon's Sweet Skills geocache there.

On my first exploration of Puget Park on June 15th, I wandered into an overgrown picnic area and was delighted to discover a fish out of water. It's another of the delightful salmon sculptures displayed in our area. It's a beautiful fiberglass work called "Soul Salmon," and I couldn't figure out why it was in a rather hidden location off the main trail. It seemed vulnerable to vandalism -- or worse -- to me. Sure enough, last week someone stole it! The News Tribune announced the disappearance and that the salmon was worth about $10k. I was very grateful to have snapped a photo of it when I saw it, because I pessimistically thought a sculpture of that value would probably be in the home of some out-of-state collector by now.

The good news is that, now a week after the theft, "Soul Salmon" has been recovered. The person who had it said he got it in trade for some bicycle wheels! The sad news is that someone in our city stole a $10k sculpture and traded it for bicycle wheels! Someone poached "Soul Salmon" and then didn't know what to do with it. I guess in Tacoma "the women are strong, the men are good looking, and [not] all the children are above average."

Guess The Price

Daughters Rachel and Leslie joined me to fill in N 29th between Junett and Union. We parked the car in front of the home of our friends, Todd and Debbie, and enjoyed the quiet shady neighborhood one block from busy 30th. We immediately happened upon the sweetest looking Victorian surrounded by shade trees. Please click on the photo below to get an enlarged view.


We played "guess the sale price" when we passed houses for sale. A house I guessed at $190k was $250k, and another I guessed at $390k was offered at $620k. Shows how out of touch I am with N End prices.

After we walked some cross streets, I had the girls drive the car down to Starbucks in Old Town while I walked down the 30th st hill just to get some more exercise, on this beautiful sunny evening of July 24, 2005. My walk totaled 2.88 miles this time.

E Dock St Terror!

On the gorgeous morning of July 18, I walked most of E Dock St, starting from 4th and Pacific. While standing in a parking lot taking photos of the Old City Hall clock tower, I suddenly jumped out of my skin at the most horrendous, percussive sound I had ever heard. The ground shook, the telephone wires were humming and I thought, Oh, no! A terrorist bomb has gone off and the debris may strike me in the next split second! It took me a long moment to realize that what I had just experienced was nothing more than the sound of train coupling on the Burlington Northern railroad across the street. The jamming together of boxcars occurred a track or two in from the street, so I had no warning; the railroad cars I could see were motionless. I mentioned it later to my friend, RT, who works in Tacoma's port area. He chuckled and said that where he works they hear that sound on an hourly basis. I salute you if you work near Tacoma's rail lines and have had to get used to that crashing thunderclap of a noise; it would take me a long time.



P. S. There is a very clever geocache hidden in the marina area off E Dock St. There is another cleverly hidden geocache at the Museum of Glass.

Tacoma's Victorian Houses

Our neighbor to the NW, Pt. Townsend, touts its historic Victorian buildings, but it's got nothing on us. Here's my favorite Old Town Victorian so far, digitally photographed on the cloudy morning of June 29, 2005. I love the sunrise tracery in the windows!



Please click on the photo for an enlarged view!

Where'd I Get The Idea?

I got the idea of walking every street in Tacoma from an article about Caleb Smith. He walked every street in the city of New York (700 miles)!

Where I've Walked So Far

I know I've got years to go on this project, but here's my small beginning. The streets I've covered in my first 3 months of Walking Tacoma are highlighted with a light fuchsia color. I rarely walk more than 2 miles at a time. I prefer to walk a minimum of 3, but I get so interested in what I'm seeing and in taking photos, that I run out of time and must hurry to other commitments!

Meaning of Tacoma

The name of our city comes from the Native American name for what is now known as Mt. Rainier. According to the sign posted by the replica of Job Carr's house (see below), the name "Tacoma" comes from the [Native American] name..., Tacopid, meaning "She who gives us the waters." NationMaster.com gives a similar explanation, Tacobet, or "mother of waters." Others have analyzed the original name Tacoma or Tahoma to mean "snow covered mountain." Still others state matter-of-factly, but without documentation, that Tahoma means "the mountain that was god." None of these translations of Tahoma/Tacoma are mutually exclusive. A snow-covered mountain is obviously the source or "mother" of waters for the region around it. I've not found hard evidence that natives of the Northwest ever believed Mt. Rainier to have been a god at one time, but if some once held that superstition, it may have been in recognition of the mountain being the source of the local waters that nourished and sustained them .* The name of our city always makes me think of a favorite scripture, John 7.37,38. Please click on the photo below to magnify it for easier viewing!

*Though I think there is a legend, somewhat suspect, attributing the mountain's deification to its primeval volcanic activity.

You Know You Love Your City If...

12. You spend the majority of your time in it.
11. You root for its athletes even though you're not into sports.
10. You know where its best geocaches are.
9. You love giving visitors a tour of it.*
8. You like to tell people you were born, born again, or graduated there.
7. You're in a religious or civic organization that serves the community.
6. You know its population.
5. Your hackles rise when outsiders put it down.
4. You mourn the necessary demolitions of its architectural icons.
3. You know its main history, industries and cultural offerings.
2. You pray for it, or seek its blessing in other ways.
1. You know its skies are bluer than Seattle's.


*We like to take visitors to see the Chihuly Bridge of Glass near downtown Tacoma. Please click on the photo above to magnify it to full size!

Living Color

My wife, Kaaren Joy, is a Master Gardener. She wishes I were more interested in gardening, but I've offered her a quote from William H. Davies (1871-1940): "The more help a person has in his garden, the less it belongs to him." She pooh-poohs that and says she's happy to share ownership. I must confess, though, that I'm learning from Kaaren's coaching and certainly gaining a greater appreciation for the flower-gardener's colorful results. I enjoyed this blue and white lithodora along Starr St on my May 17 walk. I also saw what I believe may be a jacaranda tree (rare in WA) on 27th or N Park Dr. It was just past its bloom so I made a note to visit a week or two earlier next year.

Sawing Record 1889

On a cloudy May 17, 2005, I walked from N 30th and McCarver up around N Park Dr, up to Tacoma Ave on 11th and back down Carr, a total of about 2 miles. I'm interested in everything about Tacoma's culture, and particularly about it's history, material and spiritual. Thus, I'm always happy to discover a historical monument or marker that was hitherto unknown to me. Today I found the Ackerson Mill monument. I've adjusted the contrast on the photo of the inscription to make it easier for you to read. The monument itself stands on the corner of N 11th and N 27th streets.
Perspectives change with time. The logging industry must now take environmental concerns into account in its practices and public relations. Today it might not boast in the thousands of board feet milled, as much as in the acres of forestland replanted.

West Road Canyon

On a damp May 9th, 2005, my daughter Leslie and I walked up N 29th and then south on N Junett to make a circuit around the West Rd canyon. There is a striking view of the deep green canyon from the closed off bridge at the end of N Yakima. We enjoyed seeing the gorgeous homes and gardens in this regal neighborhood! Leslie is staying in shape for dancing and for the August delivery of her first baby.

City of Palms

Have you noticed how many palm trees we have in Tacoma now? I spent my childhood in arid Calexico, CA, and palm trees were one of the few trees in abundance. But palm trees in Tacoma? In the Evergreen State? Palm trees are now so popular in Tacoma that we even have fake ones! Here's a sample of the real thing near N. 30th st.:

Job Carr, I Salute You!

On April 20, 2005, I began my walking project with my wife Kaaren where the city of Tacoma began, at what is now North 30th and Carr streets. Job Carr built the first white-man's house about half a block from this corner, and by so doing founded Tacoma. A replica of his cabin sits in Old Town Park located another block up 30th St.
This is a beautiful spot on the Puget Sound, and must have been lovely in 1865. From here you can see across the water to Vashon and Maury Islands, as well as to Brown's Pt. In Mr. Carr's day I would have enjoyed watching the tall ships come through. And back then there weren’t yet any trains or railroad crossing signals to wake Job up in the middle of the night!

Download an excellent guide to take your own walking tour of Old Town Tacoma.