A picture can say more than many words

July 26, 2019 8:28 am
Sometimes our past gives us some clues about our future: We are always in motion and we want know what lies beyond the next bend. Photo: Morf Morford
Sometimes our past gives us some clues about our future: We are always in motion and we want know what lies beyond the next bend. Photo: Morf Morford

By Morf Morford
Tacoma Daily Index

Tacoma is a strange place when you think about it. It is known for its industry but somehow has become known for its art scene – but its art scene is tied to its history of craft, industry and adoption of what came before – or may come later.

We in the Pacific Northwest read, see more movies and drink more coffee than the rest of the country.

We pay attention to what others across the world or in other parts of the country are doing, but we don’t want to copy anything.

We borrow, absorb or incorporate almost anything from anyone, but we make it our own.

We welcome almost anyone.

Some people call us “gritty”. Some people like that term, others hate it.

We don’t like pretentious pretenders. We respect and recognize good work.

We complain about the weather, no matter what it is. But it is the main thing we miss when we go somewhere else.

We are not easily impressed. If you are new to Tacoma, show us, don’t tell us, how you can make life better here.

For the most part, we like what we have here and we don’t want to lose it.

But we are always open to change. We know that nothing stays the same, and destiny, whether fortune or disaster (as in volcanoes or earthquakes) are always in wait around the next bend, but somehow not today.

Sometimes our past gives us some clues about our future: We are always in motion and we want know what lies beyond the next bend. Photo: Morf Morford
Sometimes our past gives us some clues about our future: We are always in motion and we want know what lies beyond the next bend. Photo: Morf Morford

We appreciate our past, but that doesn’t always mean we care for it.

We admire, envy and sometimes disdain those who leave us and make a name for themselves somewhere else. We know that we too could have done that, but we didn’t.

We don’t have clearly defined seasons. A cool, wet day is as likely in June as in January.  An 80 degree day could be in March – or August.

We also tend to not like human definitions; standard political or religious categories for example.

Politically we have a large percentage of independents, and when it comes to religion, we have the highest rate of “nones” in the country.

We don’t fit in any convenient or predictable demographic categories or formulas.

As one born and raised here, all I can say is that I wouldn’t have it any other way.