This morning I set out with my sister to look for monkeyshines for the Chinese New Year. It is a tradition in Tacoma, WA since 2003 and this was my year I was finally going to participate. When I first found out about it a couple years ago, each year I’d forget about going out hunting. This is the year I remembered! Sadly Mason didn’t get to join this year, he was home sick.

What are monkeyshines you ask? Straight from the site Exit133 “Ms. Monkey and her team, cloaked in anonymity, have created and carefully hidden hundreds (thousands) of handblown glass balls every Chinese New Year since 2003. The balls and medallions are each stamped with a symbol for the new year’s animal. They appear in neighborhoods throughout the city. Beautiful Angle posters usually go up that night as well. The even more mysterious Marbleman has been thrilling hunters with his handmade glass marbles the last couple of years. Others have joined in and treasures are now appearing from all over the community. The art is intended to be discovered. It is intended to surprise and be a gift.”

Tacoma is a very artsy community and you can enjoy many different cultural events throughout the year. This year I really wanted to be more involved in all things cultural and I’m off to a great start. Although I didn’t find any handblown glass, I’d say finding a #TacomaRocks rock for my first year was pretty awesome and it was just fun to experience something new, get some exercise and fresh air.

Did you find any monkeyshines? Or celebrate the Chinese New Year?

(If you didn’t get a chance to go look this weekend, you may still get a chance to find one, some say people continue finding them all week!)

Tags : chinese new year, culture, monkeyshines, tacoma