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Impromptu shrine discovered, Lacey, Washington

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Lacey, Washington

Morty Comix # 2570

Morty Comix # 2570 was placed among the interior supporting 2x4s of a newspaper vending machine shed in Panorama City, a retirement community in Lacey, Washington.

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Red Dot in the fallen petals

Morty Comix # 2444

Morty Comix # 2444 was left on a brick ledge over a couple of pathetic real estate brochure distribution boxes in a strip mall on the Westside of Olympia. This was the same facility where I first met J.P. Patches ca. 1960 when he came to promote the grand opening of this place. Notice both storefronts pictured here are vacant.

Old, decaying strip malls, I must admit, do hold a certain fascination for me. They were the proto-malls of their time. This particular one predated the Oly area's first bonafide mall (South Sound Mall in Lacey) by a half dozen years. Both vacant holes pictured here hold many memories for me as the spaces have performed a variety of retail roles in their past.

In cartoonist terms, the left half of this image once housed a pharmacy/gift shop back when Tricky Dick was in office. They also sold LP albums, lots of them. The owner was a big fat Republican member of the Washington State House of Representatives who used his girth as a campaign plus since he claimed it would make him be noticed when he stood up to talk. But in fact all he did was introduce bills to benefit pharmacists.

Anyway, when my parents would be shopping for groceries next door, I'd slip into this place and study the amazing album covers. I didn't really care about the music on the vinyl as much as I studied the big graphic images used to sell them. This was part of my education as a visual artist.

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Lacey, Washington

Morty Comix # 2424

In looking for a place to leave Morty Comix # 2424, I found a perfect spot in a picnic area of a Lacey, Washington park. But as I got closer, someone had beaten me there! The well weathered slip of paper had this handwritten mini-essay:

"There are a thousand and one gates allowing entry into the orchard of the truth. Every human being has his own gate. He must not err and wish to enter the orchard thru a gate other than his own. That would present a danger not only for the one entering but also for those who are already inside."

Hey, that is actually sort of profound. I was really impressed there was someone leaving snippets of great writing around the same way I leave cheapo drawings to be discovered.

 So I decided to widen the audience for this nice writer and then selfishly take my turn at that spot.

 

But as it turns out, the passage is a misquote from Elie Wiesel's book, Night. Wiesel calls it the "mystical orchard of the truth."

Buttons - Presidential Campaign - 1972

Elect John Schmitz President

John Schmitz was the American Independent Party's colorful nominee in 1972. I picked up this button at his Lacey, Washington campaign office in that year. Schmitz was quite mad, in both senses of the word, but did surprisingly well for a fringe candidate.

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Thomas bats at Louie's wagging tail

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Thomas the Cat

but don't call him Tom Cat

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Louie of Lacey, Washington

Morty Comix # 2285

I found a row of empty real estate brochure dispensers in Lacey, Washington and made one them the home for Morty Comix # 2285.

Washington State University News Tip Sheet, March 12, 1991

Interesting they say I edited City Limits Gazette out of Lacey, Washington. Probably due to the fact I was working there at the time. In March 1991 I was right where I am today, the mega-opolis of McCleary, Washington.

Bezango: Rutherford B. Hayes Slept Here, Oct. 1880

Olympia Power & Light, sometime in October, 2010

It's a big deal whenever a President visits the Oly area. The last sitting President to come to these parts was Harry Truman, although Gerald Ford visited Lacey when he was Vice-President in 1974.

The only President to visit McCleary was Franklin Roosevelt. He drove slowly through here waving at citizens in an open car while passing through to visit the Coast. All the schoolchildren lined up to cheer, but anti-union Henry McCleary ordered his workers to stay away.