A park, a walk, and a museum

Today was a pleasant day, not too hot, not bad air quality, although we are supposed to start getting smoke soon from wildfires burning around us.  Sweet Hubby was on errands most of the day, so I decided to get out of the house and go exploring.

I decided to go to a park I'd seen on a map in a part of the city I seldom go to.  The park itself didn't offer much; a lot of dry grass, a kids playground, an art installation dedicated to Jimi Hendrix.  But as I wandered, I found a paved trail, part of a long walking/biking trail, so I followed it.  

Along part of it were large stones set upright in cement footings.  On the footings were engraved wise words from people like Lao Tzu, Nietzsche, Rita May Brown, Horace.  The trail went through a long tunnel, the walls and floors of which were decorated with graffiti.  It wasn't just tagging, though, but all kinds of messages ("It's never too late to get sober", for example), words ("Tooth"), images (Bender, the robot from Futurama), etc.  Someone had repeatedly stenciled on the floor of the tunnel "I'm not okay", and on top of or under or near that, the stencil "But I will be".  It was almost like walking through a folk museum, quite entertaining and sometimes moving.

Coming out of the tunnel, I found a lovely view of Lake Washington and one of the bridges - clogged with traffic - that crosses it to the Eastside.  I hadn't realized I was that close to the lake, and took a moment to enjoy the sight, and the air.  Then back through the tunnel to the park.

I discovered that this park is the site of the Northwest African American Museum.  I couldn't be that close and not go in, so I did, and was greeted most amiably at the ticket counter  There was hardly anyone else there, so I took my time looking at the exhibits, which largely highlighted the many historic moments and accomplishments of African Americans in the Pacific Northwest and in the country.  One of my favorites was a slideshow that gave a timeline of firsts, such Norman Rice, the first Black mayor of Seattle; Arthur Ashe, the first Black player selected to the US David Cup team and the only Black man to win the singles titles at Wimbledon, the US Open. and the Australian Open; Barak Obama and Kamala Harris, for reasons I assume you know.

I have this to say about my experience at the museum: Ron DeSantis, you are a small, cowardly, ignorant man, and so are the others like you who don't want true Black history taught because you claim it will make white children uncomfortable.  It's your own discomfort you can't abide.  You really need to grow up or go away.