Long After

May has proven to be a surprising month on more than a few occasions, and it brought surprises this year as well - involving unexpected trips, new cities and airplanes. But before I leave for my unexpected trip, I thought I'd stop by to say hello and share photographs we took in Tacoma's Point Defiance Park in early May. May is also the prettiest month with the abundance of blooms in magnificent Northwest gardens. I hope you enjoy the season, wherever you are! Have a fantastic week, and I'll be back soon with news stories, pictures and comments!

Pagoda, the building behind me, was built in 1914 as a streetcar station by the local architect Luther Twitchell, with Japanese roof features and Arts and Crafts design elements. Even after streetcars were replaced with buses in 1938, the Pagoda continued serving as a terminal. But the bus route was cancelled in 1962 (due to decreasing number of passengers - I guess more and more people bought cars by that time). Since that time, the Pagoda became a place for garden shows and other events. The building was set on fire by an arsonist in 2011, but the fire was stopped quickly by the Tacoma Fire Department team. Since 2014, the restored Pagoda was named to the National Register of Historic Places.

If you remember my recent post SEARCHING FOR SAKURA (March 2018), you probably recognized this place - yes, it is the very same park where we went on a quest to find sakura blossom. And we found a beautifully blooming cherry tree, but only now we discovered almost a grove of cherry trees in bloom! The trees were a gift from Japan, and they were planted as a symbol of friendship between the two sister cities, Tacoma and Kitakyushu, Japan. Our cities will celebrate 60 years of friendship next year!

Orris Root Iris (Iris germanica florentina) caught my eye with its beautiful, complicated shape and pure white color. It was planted in the herb garden between things like fennel and thyme, and I was really surprised to see it, but I got even more surprised to read that this what legendary fleur-de-lys is! It remains the most common symbol of French heraldry since 12th century to this day.

The statue of Francis W. Cushman, Tacoma's congressmen who made it his personal project to push the bill which allowed the city of Tacoma to develop this land as a park. The land officially used to be a military reservation, though it was never used for any military purposes. The statue was funded by Mr. Cushman's mother who died in 1919 (surviving her song who died 10 years earlier at the young age of 42) and who left $20,000 for commemorating her son. The sculpture was completed by J. Massey Rhind, Scottish born artist, and opened in 1925, and hopefully will be here for centuries, so many new generations can come and thank this amazing young man for the work of his life. (More details HERE.)

I hope you enjoyed this walk in one of Tacoma's most beautiful and old parks as much as Justin and I did. It is also famous for leaving many ancient trees untouched (which is not a common thing around here, in the heart of timber industry). When we were passing some of those tall old trees with trunks as wide as a house, Justin said, "They will be here long after we are gone." I felt both fragile and eternal at that moment, and I liked the way he said it.

Photos by Justin and myself

Dress - eShakti

Shoes (by Tsubo), earrings, glasses - old, remixed from my closet