Monkeyshines 2016

     It was a bleak, overcast February day, but it wasn’t raining. I was bundled up in my robe sipping tea over a bowl of cereal, bored. A section of the News Tribune peeked out from under my mug. Bright colors called out, “Ringing in the Lunar New Year around the South Sound.”

     YES, the year of the monkey! An earlier article in January had explained that Tacoma’s Monkeyshines project was back on.  Anonymous glassblowers around Tacoma make thousands of glass balls, medallions imprinted with the Asian new year’s animal (2016 is the monkey) and other objects of art and hide them around town. It all started 12 years ago, and was on my list of things to do. 

     Then last year, they said it would be the last year for Monkeyshines. I was disappointed that I hadn’t gotten around to searching for the handblown glass balls. Now I had another chance. I was excited that Monkeyshines was back on!

     Even though the Lunar New Year is on Monday, and this was the Friday before, the article said that the handblown globes could start showing up a few days early. A field trip to Tacoma was necessary!

     I didn’t get to Tacoma until 10 am. My plan had been to start in the Chinese Reconciliation Park, but I took a wrong turn and missed it. Instead I parked on Commerce St. in front of a bar and a vertical dance studio. The street was empty.

     I started walking and scanning the storefronts, looking along window ledges and in planters. I climbed the stairs beside the old Elks temple that McMenamins has started restoring. I was looking between the white rungs on the stairs and stood on tip toes to peer into the urns perched on corners, but there were just old plastic bottles in there. 

At the top, I headed toward the antique/theater district.

    It was a quiet walk, very different from when the restaurants and pubs are open at night. I didn’t spy any Monkeyshines treasure. However, I did see a few tempting items in storefront windows that I’d like to look at more closely when the shops open.

     I made my way back toward my car, but detoured down the hill after spotting a sign for Fireman’s Park. I’d read about a famous totem pole in the park. It was carved in 1903 to impress President Theodore Roosevelt when he came through town. It stands 80 feet tall (beating out the 60 –ft. totem pole that was in Seattle at the time). A few years ago, there was a controversy about what to do when it was inspected and found to be in poor condition. The city decided to restore it, brace it, and leave it in Fireman’s Park.

Totem Pole in Fireman's Park, Tacoma, WA

     This was something else on my list of things to see/do in Tacoma. Check! I don’t know if Teddy Roosevelt was impressed, but I was. That totem pole soars up into the gray skies over the city. 

Mt. Rainier from Fireman's Park, Tacoma, WA

     The sliver of green park hovers over the highway and has great views of Commencement Bay, the port of Tacoma, and Mt. Rainier.

 I was the only one there, and the sole hint at a Monkeyshine ball turned out to be a rock. I felt like Charlie Brown on Halloween.

     I pointed my Nikes back up the hill toward my car. When I passed by the pay station near my car, I noticed that someone had stuck their ticket on the machine. I love it that people “donate” their unused parking time to random strangers.

     Since I was parked on Commerce St. I decided a trip to Mad Hat Tea Company, several blocks down, would be a good way to warm up. I lucked out with a space right in front and watched the Link light rail streetcar pass by. That was another thing I’d always wanted to do—ride the Link.

     I got my tea to-go and hopped aboard. There are six stops along the 1.6 miles from Freighthouse Square and the Sounder train station to the theater/antique shop district, and it only takes 10 minutes to go from one end to the other. Until September the ride is free. I didn’t spot any Monkeyshine treasure along the way, but the ride was smooth and it was very clean. It was a convenient way to get from one end of town to the other. I hope it expands to cover more of Tacoma.

     Realizing that I probably started my quest too early, I drove the 20 minutes back home to Puyallup and made plans for searching again on Monday, the real start of the Lunar New Year.

     Monday morning I got an earlier start and arrived at Fireman’s Park by 8:30. This time I wasn’t alone. There were at least 15 other people there who also thought that it would be a good place to hide Monkeyshines glass balls, medallions, and art. We were all peering under bushes and shading our eyes from the morning sun to look up into trees. 
     After 45 minutes of finding nothing, I drove over to the Chinese Reconciliation Park. (Another place on my Tacoma to-do list.)

     It was built to acknowledge and apologize for an ugly part of Tacoma history when Chinese workers were forced out of the city. The pathways pleasantly meander along leading to the Fuzhou Ting, a striking red pavilion that was built by three master craftsmen from Fuzhou, China, Tacoma’s sister city.

     The park is right on the water, with scenic vistas as far as the eye can see. But as near as my eye could see there were no hand blown glass balls. Once again, I surrendered and drowned my sorrows in tea, this time at Corina Bakery.

Dancing Cranes mural.

     Not only had I not found one of the hidden glass balls, I never saw anyone else find one either. Plan A of searching two days early failed. Plan B of searching on the right day, but after the sun rose failed. It was time to implement Plan C.

     

Manhole cover on sidewalk near Mad Hat Tea Co.

Candle cups with the monkey seal were being sold and the funds raised would go to support the Monkeyshine project, but you were supposed to go online to purchase them and then pick them up at one of two locations. Creative Forces a shop filled with locally made art in the Murano Hotel was one of the pick-up spots. I went there and fortunately got one of the last two Monkeyshines candle cups.

    I know that it’s not one of the precious, hand-blown glass balls. I have no triumphant tale of discovery, but it does have the monkey seal pressed into glass, and it was handcrafted in Tacoma. I crossed a lot off of my Tacoma to-do list, got some exercise in, didn’t get rained on, and saw quite a bit of art along the way. Still, looking closely at that monkey’s face on the candle holder, I have to wonder, is he laughing at me?

Laura Keolanui Stark enjoyed her wild monkey chase. She can be reached at stark.laura.k@gmail.com.