Today is Monday, January 20, 2025
National Penguin Day
Quote of the Week
“Whenever I’m about to do something, I think, ‘would an idiot do that?’ And if they would, then I do not do that thing.”
– Unknown
Spotlight Photo
Happily Ever After
https://www.everafterphotographypnw.com/
Ever After Photography PNW is owned and operated by photographer extraordinaire, Mira Nachtigall. Mira specializes in birth, maternity, and newborn photography. She shares her art each week to help beautify the My Monday Memo. Mira and Rachel’s friendship spans back to 2007 in Las Vegas. They now reside very close in Washington.
Feline Tomfoolery
with Brady & Belichick
- Brady– Do I have anything on my face?
- Belichick– Yep, whiskers, fur…
- Brady– Duh, I mean do I have anything in my nose?
- Belichick– Who cares?
- Brady– The human sure does. She gets weirded out when I make loud breathing noises through my nose. She keeps trying to look up my tiny nostrils.
- Belichick– Just let her do it. You know she won’t give up that easily.
- Brady– There is nothing wrong with my nose, sometimes I just like to practice some ujjayi breathing (Yogis will know this one).
- Belichick– You are such a weirdo.
- Brady– Just trying to keep up with you. Plus, I like to sound like Darth Vader. Did anyone ever tell you that your stare looks evil?
- Belichick– The look you see is irritation with you. Nothing more. It’s my resting ick face.
Brady & Belichick are Rachel’s adorable felines. Brady is a short hair and very dominant and athletic, much like his namesake (Forever Patriots). Belichick, aka Beli, the long hair, was the runt of their litter and is much more passive, until provoked. These two cute boys turned one on May 4, 2024.
A Dark Rabbit Hole
When Rachel first saw a picture of a bright and colorful concrete egg in a shared social media post, she just had to find it and see its beauty in person. Luckily, it was located in a park somewhat near Rachel’s home, in the Hilltop neighborhood of Tacoma. Little did she know what a dark journey this bright egg would take her on one Saturday afternoon. She thought she was going to snap a picture for the Spotlight Photo section. It didn’t turn out the way she expected.
May you rest in peace, Zina Linnik
It was a Saturday afternoon when Rachel was just finishing up some errands and decided to run by Edna Travis Park in Tacoma. She had seen a picture of a large, decorated egg that was supposed to be in a park near an elementary school. She put the park name into her map app and began her journey. The route took her down M Street in Tacoma. This gave her an unsettling feeling.
Why? When her stolen car was recovered, it was recovered on this street. She was in the very neighborhood that thieves took her car to bastardize. She had an uneasy feeling about the neighborhood but figured it would be a quick in and out of the park to photograph the egg.
She parked very close to the entrance and quickly snapped a photo of the park sign, then the egg at the entrance of the park. She then noticed another egg inside of the park and made haste to take a picture of the second egg. She couldn’t get back to her car fast enough. She had an oddly uneasy feeling.
Rachel means no offense to Edna Travis Park or the surrounding residents. She realizes not all people on or near M Street are car stealing meth doers. Maybe none of them are bad and that was just where the drug-doing thieves decided to post up with her Honda. Plus, the park wasn’t even on M Street, it was on South J Street.
It was the ‘Zina’s Playground’ that caught Rachel’s attention when she got home and looked at the few pictures she had taken. Who was Zina and why did she have a playground named after her? This curiosity took Rachel down a dark rabbit hole.
Rachel first Googled the park’s website. The Metro Parks Tacoma Edna Travis Park. First, a bit about Edna Travis. According to the Metro Parks website at Edna Travis Park – Metro Parks Tacoma, Edna lived in the Hilltop neighborhood of Tacoma for 60 years and was one of the first Black female pastors in the Hilltop neighborhood. It looks like Edna created quite the legacy with her kindness and hard work. That elementary school Rachel mentioned being near the park, Edna Travis Elementary. Edna sounds like a rockstar.
To see a picture of Edna and learn more about her story, visit the link at Dr. Edna E. Travis.
The next section of the Metro Parks site was about the Community Garden & Zina Linnik Playground. The playground opened in 2010 and was dedicated to the memory of student Zina Linnik (1995-2007). According to the Metro Parks Tacoma website, the playground was designed with input from the students and inspired a “Play in Peace” day which is celebrated annually.
Taken straight from the Metro Parks Tacoma About section, “Two large concrete eggs adorn the park, each decorated with bright, multi-colored tiles in the style of Ukrainian Easter eggs or “pysanky.” The colorful tiles form shapes inspired by nature and children’s art, designed and installed by local artist Clare Dohna. The art was part of the redesign of the park that took place after the kidnapping and murder of 12-year-old Zina Linnik in 2007.”
There it was… the darkness. Rachel’s morbid curiosity and love of all things true crime took over and she immediately Googled Zina’s name. She read the following Seattle Times article, Adhahn pleads guilty to murder of Tacoma girl, 12 | The Seattle Times. If you are interested in reading about this murderer, and the epic failure of the system, you can visit the link. Rachel will give no additional time for the murderer but bring focus back to Zina and the beauty that lives on in her memory.
The above photo of Zina was clipped from Tacoma Plays in Peace | Tacoma Daily Index.
How about these eggs? Beautiful. What a great way to shine light in the world but with colorful art. Rachel is a big fan of art, especially the art found around Tacoma. There are so many murals and sculptures throughout Tacoma, and she is sure she hasn’t even scratched the surface. Maybe an art hunt is in order. Enjoy the below photos of the pysanky eggs, and until next time, be well.
