Part 1: Santa and His Reindeer
With Christmas only days away, and school done for the quarter, Brittany, Tubbs, and I set out on Tuesday morning for a photo adventure to… Puyallup. The reason? To find Santa’s reindeer and pet the crap out of them. Unfortunately, as it turns out, Santa’s reindeer live in a slightly depressing pen surrounded by hordes of squealing children, and petting them is strictly prohibited. Brittany did manage to get her hair snuffled by a reindeer through the fence, though, which was pretty adorable. And I managed to take a million pictures while Tubbs talked to the reindeer in the Tubb-Tubb animal/baby voice and squealed about how freaking cute they were, so it wasn’t a total bust. Then we went into the nursery and wandered around amidst the winter wonderland of fake snow and fake trees, bought some tropical house plants, and photographed each other with the Nordic Santa mannequin. Good times for all.
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Part 2: Rusty Trucks, Painted Signs, and a Urinal, Oh My…
After leaving Santa and his reindeer behind, we happened upon a dilapidated gas station, complete with hand painted signs, broken windows, piles of old junk, and a rusty truck with a urinal attached to the front bumper. Pretty sure the whole scene was put there by God for me to photograph. We stopped, we took a million pictures, we poked around, and then we continued on.
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Part 3: Next Stop: Magical Tacoma
By this time we were starting to get hungry, so we headed off towards magical Tacoma in search of food. Now I realize that the word “magical” might not be the first thing that comes to mind when people think about Tacoma, but I am here to tell you that it is indeed a magical place. Not only is it chock full of industrial scenes to be photographed: Boats and lights and water and trains and tall smoke stacks belching clouds of God knows what into the sky, but it also has an Anthony’s restaurant with pretty good fish, mediocre clam chowder, and the world’s MOST DELICIOUS CREME BRULE EVER OH MY GOD!!!! And because we were the only patrons under the age of 65 (and perhaps we looked like trouble?) we were seated all by ourselves on a glassed in patio by the water. It was lovely.
Other things that make Tacoma magical: Point Defiance Park with its 5 mile scenic drive (that we did mostly in the dark because it’s winter and get’s dark at like, 3:30), raccoon families in the woods (that bum rushed our car and then stood on their hind legs begging for food while we squealed over their cuteness, nicknamed them all “Masky”, and took more pictures from the safety of our locked car), and a neon sign over the freeway advertising “Elf Storage.” (It was later pointed out that it was probably supposed to say “Self Storage”, and that the “S” had just burned out, but I prefer to believe that Tacoma really does have a warehouse full of elves.)
So I don’t care what anyone else may think. Tacoma is a magical place.
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Part 4: Using Up the World’s Finite Resources One Glowing Tree at a Time
By the time we got back to Seattle it was after 6, and we decided to wrap up our adventure with a tour of Christmas lights in my neighborhood. Now there are people who put up Christmas decorations, and then there are people who PUT UP CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS!!!!!! The first group of photos below are of a house where the people have their own radio station (102.1) that plays Christmas music to which the lights are synced. If you live in Seattle and are reading this, you MUST go check it out. North 57th and Latona. You will not regret the experience. The second set of photos are of a house that I pass on the bus every night on my way home from work. And every night I am awe-struck. Turns out it’s even better when you get out of the car and stand slack jawed in their front yard for as long as your eyes can stand the dazzling.
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Part 5: Welcome Home
It was, indeed, a glorious day filled with adventure. But even glorious days must come to an end, so after our Christmas light tour de force, Tubb-Tubb and Brittany dropped me off at my apartment above the weird Hawaii store. Just as I was thinking to myself that the day couldn’t get any better, I discovered a package from my sister sitting on top of the mailboxes. “What was inside?” you ask. A whole tin of home baked cookies! “How long did it take you to consume them, Emily?” you ask. Twenty-four hours!! And they were delicious.
The Christmas window display of the weird Hawaii store below my apartment. And yes, every time I walk by I do get that “Mele Kalikimaka” song stuck in my head.
