retreat to luxury - Nina Noble Design

Transcription

RETREAT TO LUXURY
AT T H E B E L L E V U E C L U B H O T E L
VOTED ONE OF THE “TOP 100 HOTELS IN THE CONTINENTAL
U.S. & CANADA” IN 2006 TRAVEL+LEISURE.
The Bellevue Club Hotel is an in-city resort featuring award-winning
design, service and a history of delighted guests. Experience our beautifully
appointed guestrooms, world-class athletic facilities and full-service spa.
Reservations 800.579.1110 Phone 425.454.4424 Fax 425.688.3101
11200 SE 6TH ST. BELLEVUE, WA 98004
•
WWW.BELLEVUECLUB.COM
NEW
The Undertown Marketplace
Pergola Entrance Mount Baker Block Building
Located in Historic Downtown Port Townsend, Washington
Creative retail space available for new PT Undertown Marketplace tenants!
One of the largest historic buildings in
Port Townsend offers unique space for
unique retail. If you are interested in
leasing space and being part of a creative
new marketplace, call for more detailed
information. Space is limited.
Business opportunity for:
Home of: Peninsula Life Magazine and
Made on the Peninsula
Taylor Street Market
You could own the only market in downtown Port Townsend.
For information call:
360.821.1047
Quality Products of the Pacific Northwest
March–April 07
6
ART TALK
82 MONEY
I Need Both Hands
Adam Stern, Maestro 6
Art Showcase 12
16 GRAPEVINE
85 PERSPECTIVES
Hoodsport Winery 16
22 GREEN THUMB
Salal Gaultheria shallon 22
Far Reaches Farm 26
31 HEALTH
Menopause and Life
Beyond HRT 31
Beans Are Back In Style 34
Trainer’s Corner 36
Does long-term care insurance
make sense for you? 82
A Converting Wealth
to Income 84
81 READER’S PAGE
“Lots of Backseat Driving” 81
Happy Birthday.
Or is it? 85
Spring Cleaning 87
Curing Cabin Fever 89
94 THIS IS US
Kitsap Children’s
Musical Theater 94
38 BON APPETIT
Xinh's Clam & Oyster House 38
Cooking with Chef Santschi 44
48 LIFE STYLES
Quintessential Island Home:
The Point White Overlook
House 48
A Conversation with
Chip Hanauer 59
64 LEISURE & TRAVEL
The Olympic Peninsula’s
Springtime Winter
Steelhead 64
Westport Beachcombing 68
The Golden Years of Golf
Or “What hurts today” 72
Resonant Golf 74
Entering Sequim 78
Steve Wilson Cover: Cedar spoon and freshly dug clams on the beach at La Push, WA.
Credits: David Deardorff & Kathryn Wadsworth pps. 22-25
Jill Buhler pps. 26-30, 44
Mike Coverdale p. 68
Vincent M. Hagel pps. 74-76
Kevin Wilson p. 81
Courtesy photos pps. 36-37, 92
Steve Wilson/ENTHEOS all others.
www.peninsulalife.biz
Peninsula Life
3
volume 2 issue 2
Peninsula Life, Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 894
LLC
Port Townsend, WA
98368
P: 360-379-1385
F: 360-379-1395
E: info@peninsulalife.biz
W: peninsulalife.biz
Publisher
Katherine S. McKelvey
Director of
Creative
Development
Steven C. Wilson
Art Director
Nina Noble
Editor
Jill Buhler
Copy Editing
Victor Judd
Contributors
Mike Coverdale
Laurence Davidson
David Deardorff
Narinder Duggal, MD,
Mike Early
Heather Flanagan
Karen Frank
Scott Hill
Teresa Hoffman
Rhonda Hull
Ginny Messina
Mary Robson
Doug Rose
Mary Lou Sanelli
Chef Walter Santschi
Terence Seward
Pam Thompson
Kathryn Wadsworth
Craig Wallin
Nathan Weatherby
Carol Wiseman
Account
Executive
Constance M. Heinrich
Office Manager Karen Pedersen
Circulation
Manager
info@peninsulalife.biz
Web Design
Mark Torres
To subscribe:
$ 25 (tax included) a year, 6 issues, single
issue is $ 4.95+ tax. Please send name,
address and phone, along with check
payable to Peninsula Life, to:
P.O. Box 894, Port Townsend, WA 98368.
Peninsula Life is published bi-monthly.
© 2007 by Peninsula Life, LLC.
All rights reserved. Partial or whole
reproduction is prohibited. The publisher
will not be held responsible for errors in
advertising beyond the cost of the space
of the ad. No changes may be made or
cancellation accepted after the publication
deadline date.
4
Peninsula Life
Peninsula
Life
Letter from the Publisher:
The Pacific Northwest certainly received its share of winter this year. In
fact, the entire world is having some kind of extreme weather. Experts say it’s all
connected to “global warming.” It’s a little scary to think the earth is changing
so dramatically in such a short period of time. In January, NYC experienced
temperatures in the 60s. I saw a piece on the news of a newscaster interviewing
people in Central Park and asking them if they felt the warm weather conditions
were due to global warming. One man said, “If this is global warming, then bring
it on,” with a big smile on his face. It made me wonder how many people are
actually concerned about the effects of global warming. Al Gore certainly makes
a compelling argument for serious concern.
One of the reasons I am glad I live in the Pacific Northwest is because there
seems to be more people living here who do care. I have lived in many parts of
the world and it just seems like people in the Pacific Northwest are more environmentally conscious than in most parts of the U.S. It’s a good feeling to live
in an area where people care about clean water, fresh air, sustainable foods, and
building green. People who respect the earth and care about preserving it. People
who value a healthy earth as the highest wealth one could achieve.
Other strong values of people who call the Pacific Northwest home are
relationships. People here tend to care more about their neighbors. It’s nice to
know there are still places where people care about helping each other. Life is
just too short to hold grudges, be mean and grumpy, treat people badly or just
plain ignore them. It’s unfortunate that some people go through life ignoring the
people around them, when if they paid attention they may just find a friend. I
find most people who live in the Pacific Northwest make a conscious effort to
be neighborly.
I do worry about the younger generation; studies are showing that the number one goal for the next generation is monetary wealth. I just hope that if they do
achieve wealth they find a way to share it and spend it on the environment.
Maybe that is what “global warming” is really all about—mother earth trying to tell everyone to shape up and pay attention.
Remember, it’s all about the quality of life and the Spirit of the Pacific
Northwest.
Katherine S. McKelvey
Publisher
Peninsula Life
A Quality of Life Publication
Peninsula Life
5
I Need Both Hands:
Adam Stern, Maestro
by Karen Frank
T
hey drift in alone or talking to
a colleague, or in a straggling
gaggle of men and women,
carrying satchels or outlandishly shaped black cases. They settle themselves
on metal chairs, prop up their scores on music
holders, and begin the process of tuning their
individual instruments to the note provided
to them by the oboist. They start to become the
Port Angeles Symphony orchestra.
The conductor is here, too. He dresses in
a baggy beige sweater for the dress rehearsal,
looking no more sophisticated than the rest,
but he is a professional, guiding musicians of
varying backgrounds and talent. Some played
for money in other orchestras in other places.
Most are amateurs, young and old, who play
for the love of it, or out of habit—and now
find themselves tackling the difficulties of
Bach’s Wachet Auf or the Procession of the
Sardar.
Adam Stern, the conductor, has the
kind of hands that cause people to ask,
6
Peninsula Life
“Do you play the piano?” or “Are you an
artist?” Those hands—which do play the
piano—also direct the members of the Port
Angeles Symphony through its repertoire.
That repertoire always contains a surprise
for the audience, or a challenge; Stern
believes people should not leave a performance feeling completely comfortable.
This makes Adam seem demanding
and serious, but joyous intensity is a more
fitting description. Although he has survived insult and conflict during his career,
the wrinkles accumulating on his face are
smile lines around his eyes, not furrows in
his brow. He speaks with his hands and
whole body as if he were a piece of music
himself.
He looks comfortable and graceful,
even sitting in a small back room at Trinity United Methodist Church in Sequim,
filled with folding chairs and a piano.
There, he teaches a class about music in
films. When class members start arriving
during the interview, he welcomes them,
reassuring them, “I promise I won’t dry up
if you come and sit.”
Adam teaches two classes for Peninsula College, because “someone noticed
that I have been blessed with the gift of
gab when it comes to music. I love talking
about music in just about every form you
can think of.”
Born in Los Angeles, Adam may be
a child of Hollywood, but “somehow in
spite of the fact that I was raised in the
San Fernando Valley, I don’t use the word
‘like’ every third or fourth word,” he says.
“Hey, I like music, you know. Like, I like
Beethoven.” His laugh is open-hearted, rising musically and ending on the right note,
his timing impeccable.
Raised by “two lovely and very literate”
people, Adam heard a lot of music at an
early age, because his father worked for JPL
Speakers, which sold sound equipment.
“He was always going to stereo shows and
coming home with batches of LPs under
his arm,” Adam says.
It’s telling that the first piece of music
Adam fell in love with was Ravel’s Bolero.
“We must have had six different recordings
of Bolero,” Adam notes, and he played all of
them repeatedly.
“There probably are still many ways
in which I am hopelessly immature,” Adam
says, “but somehow my musical sense was
there early. I heard Bolero and that was
that. People ask when I decided to become
a musician and I say, ‘I never decided; I
just sort of knew that’s what I was.’ Thank
God I was raised by two people who loved
that.”
By age five, he started piano lessons,
adding flute at age seven. His parents were
thrilled, but wanted Adam to have a normal
upbringing, not to be treated like a child
prodigy. “They didn’t want my passion for
music to be so all-consuming that it would
prevent me from exploring other facets of
my life,” he says. “I stayed ‘normal’ until I
was 15, then I quit high school and went
straight to college.” Adam enrolled at the
California Institute of the Arts, initially
majoring in flute performance.
“I had an upbringing that seems in
some ways to be opposite from that of
many people I know,” he confides. “At
home, I had total acceptance, total comfort, but at school, oh, I was always that
freak who stunk at football and played the
piano.”
Adam notes that his parents’ indulgence probably contributed to his dissimilarity to other students. When he was six
or seven, he loved the Laurel and Hardy
movies and “by golly, I wanted a derby,”
he says. His parents got him one, which
he wore to school. “This didn’t improve
the schism between the other students and
me,” he acknowledges.
College was better. The pivotal
moment was the first time Adam took
the podium during his conducting class.
“I wasn’t 100 percent virginal,” Adam
notes. He had conducted his high school
orchestra. But he approached his first college conducting assignment by rigorously
examining the score, learning its history
and every note. “It felt so natural,” he says.
He was confident in his preparation and
felt that he just knew how to conduct and
didn’t have to stop to think about it. “If I
wanted something sharp I knew what to
do, and if I wanted something smooth I
knew what to do.” His professor, Gerhard
Samuel, told Adam, “You have just found
yourself.”
“I’ve always equated movement with
music.” Adam illustrates, rocking in his
chair and beating time on its surface. “It
was that sense of giving physical motion to
the music that I loved that was perfectly
natural. From the beginning I think you
would have had to Krazy glue and Velcro
me to my seat if you ever wanted me to
Peninsula Life
7
remain utterly still while I was listening to
music.”
Between 1977, when he graduated
from Cal Arts with his MFA in conducting, and 1992, when he became Assistant
Conductor of the Seattle Symphony,
Adam “split into several different people.
I was conducting, I was composing, I was
playing the piano. Essentially living the life
of a peripatetic Bohemian artist who would
go here and there.”
For a few years, he was a member of
a four-man piano ensemble. He was also
8
Peninsula Life
a music copyist for Frank Zappa for two
years. Then, “at times when nothing was
happening musically and I had to keep
a roof over my head,” he worked at odd
jobs—as a legal secretary, a paralegal, a PR
person, a secretary/receptionist.
He did what was necessary, he notes,
“but always with the goal—I hoped—of
conducting full-time. And then as life wore
on, it seemed to be a goal that was getting
less and less likely.”
A low point was a Leonard Bernstein
conducting workshop Adam attended in
1981. Bernstein had been Adam’s childhood idol. Adam wrote to Bernstein
expressing admiration and received a letter
encouraging him to attend a young conductors’ workshop in Los Angeles.
“I applied and was accepted,” Adam
says. “Nightmare!” Adam notes Bernstein
was unwell and surrounded by sycophants.
Bernstein was supposed to work with all
18 conductors, but essentially “decreed
that there were only three of us who were
worthy of his attention and the rest of us
had to sort of beg for scraps.”
Adam had only one session with him. Afterward,
Bernstein had a brief conversation with Adam—in
the men’s room. Bernstein
asked Adam why he wanted
to conduct and criticized
him for being too intellectual
and remote from the music.
Bernstein pronounced, “You
have a career somewhere in
music, but conducting obviously isn’t it. I’m sure of it.
You could always get a job
writing program notes.”
“I don’t think that I have
a huge ego,” Adam says, “but
I think if I’d had any less ego
that summer, I would have
given up. That was my trial
by fire.”
However, the experience “taught me
how to be a better teacher, to be critical and
gentle at the same time. It showed me how
not to deal with students.” That carries over
to his work in Port Angeles with the youth
in the orchestra. “You realize that you may
have a very decisive vote in how they decide
to pursue music in their lives,” he states. “If
you have dull music or a conductor who is
a major putdown artist, that could make
them think, ‘No, if this is how it is, I’m
done.”
Luckily, in the fall after this disastrous
workshop, Adam’s college conducting
teacher called him with a proposition, asking Adam if he would like to be an assistant
conductor with the Pacific Northwest Ballet
for the winter’s Nutcracker performances.
Adam moved to Seattle in 1982 and
“lived with the ballet company for 10 to 12
hours a day,” he says. “I was accompanying
the ballet classes and Nutcracker rehearsals
on the piano, having the time of my life. I
lived in a tiny apartment that was probably
two thirds the size of this room. I had my
clothes, my clock radio, my toothbrush, I
was happy as a clam.”
Gerhard Samuel conducted the first
week of the Nutcracker, then informed
Adam that he was going to do the Sunday
matinée. Since Adam hadn’t worked with
the orchestra yet, he had to gain their
confidence. “I conducted the overture and
the orchestra gave me an ovation,” he says.
“I started to get this rush.” Adam pauses.
“Oh, it’s all coming back to me, I’m starting to get goosebumps.”
Right before the complicated ending
of the first act, Adam looked down at the
score for his notes and realized it was still
open to the first page. He’d done the whole
thing from memory. “At that point, I said,
‘Lenny, I love you, but you were wrong!’”
he exults. “That was my rebirth!”
After that, a family friend asked
Adam if he’d like to be a recording producer. “I grew up with record albums and
they would always say ‘produced by’ and
I assumed that was the person who stood
by the door and handed out envelopes of
money to the players.”
Producing turned out to be a complex job. Adam watched the score, giving
feedback to the conductor and players
about problems during the recording session. “Sometimes you do a take as short
as a couple of measures, just to correct
one little wrong note. At the end of the
session, the takes are gathered and edited,
and that becomes the compact disc.” Adam
produced a series of classical recordings,
including several with Gérard Schwarz and
Peninsula Life
9
the Seattle Symphony. In 1990, he won a
Grammy award as “Classical Producer of
the Year”.
“I almost foresaw doing this for the
rest of my life, which I could have done,”
he acknowledges. “It wouldn’t have been
ideal, but at least I would have been working with professional musicians.” But in
1991, Gérard asked him to guest conduct
the Seattle Symphony.
“He called me two days later and
said, ‘I want you here in the fall as my new
assistant conductor.’ I said, ‘You’ve got
me!’ Thus began my full-time conducting
career—finally.”
His career with the Seattle Symphony
as first Assistant Conductor, then Associate
Conductor, ended in 2001. “The classical
music world is like any other world, rife
with politics,” he says. Adam notes that
the Symphony was more artistically driven
when he started working there in 1992, but
that the move to Benaroya Hall coincided
with a shift to a more hard-nosed business
atmosphere. “A new group of administrators came in,” he says ruefully, “and they
decided that they wanted to clean house.
They wanted the Symphony to reflect their
sensibilities. One of them found a new
conductor they wanted to move into my
place and eventually they found an excuse
to do this, and cut me loose.”
At the same time, Adam lost his
position with the Northwest Chamber
Orchestra. He felt hurt, bewildered and
overwhelmed, and still had to help support his two small children. During the
next two years, he took whatever freelance
work he could find, “very nearly becoming
a clerk in the grocery store,” he acknowledges. “Conductors are not easy people to
employ, because we are unfortunately kind
of specialized.”
From that rock-bottom place, Adam
rebuilt his life piece by piece. First, he
obtained a position as director of instrumental music at Lakeside Upper School.
Shortly afterward he was invited to guest
conduct the Seattle Philharmonic and was
hired as music director/conductor. Finally,
invited to guest conduct the Port Angeles
Symphony Orchestra, he was eventually
hired for that position too, now holding
down three jobs that he loves.
During a symphony rehearsal break Adam gets a hug of approval from son Oscar.
10
Peninsula Life
When Adam conducts, his body is like
a spring-loaded instrument, its action confined to his arms and hands for much of each
musical composition. When he needs more
energy or builds toward the climax, however,
one fears he will leap off the podium into the
orchestra. He leans forward, scoops and pulls
with his arms, stands on the balls of his feet,
then suddenly springs upward, an explosion
of musical intensity.
Seeing his hands sketch the shape of the
music, one wonders if “conductor” is the right
word for the occupation. The conductor is a
collector, a holding space, a knitter and binder
of notes blown and pounded and bowed; he
is both the channel for the composer’s work
and the bowl that holds it for the audience
to drink from. Perhaps conductor is the best
word: the energetic charge of the music passes
through the body of the orchestra leader and
sparks a response in the heart and mind of the
audience member.
“I’m aware of being a hub,” he says, “a
source of the energy flow of the piece.”
However, when he’s conducting,
“the only physical things I’m aware of are
beating time and giving cues. For years I
During rehearsal intermission a
moment of theatre comique
becomes a family affair with the
maestro joining daughter Ella
and son Oscar.
vignette
was told that I show a lot of exuberance
on the podium. People would say, ‘oh,
you jump four inches in the air’ and I’m
like, ‘oh, come on!’” Then, a few years ago
when Adam became director of the Seattle
Philharmonic Orchestra, they started
providing him with DVDs showing his
performance. When he watched them, he
recognized the people were right. “I do do
that!” he concludes.
The other musicians have gone home,
but the brass section stands in two wings
facing Adam, rehearsing Canzonas for Brass
by Giovanni Gabrielli. Up close, some seem
nervous, others impatient to be done. They
repeat several passages until Adam is satisfied,
then they discuss the evening’s logistics. As they
drift away, Adam comes over, announces that
he is soaked, but hugs me anyway. He is wet
from the exertion, but also enlivened, brighteyed, rejuvenated.
Throughout the rehearsal, Adam
conducted the orchestra without a baton.
Asked about this, he says, “It’s gotten to
the point where using the baton is viewed
as affected. If you can make the music
without one, don’t use it.” He continues,
“Pierre Boulez said, ‘I couldn’t use a stick, it
would freeze my hand,’ and I feel the same
way. I need both hands to do things.”
Between the dress rehearsal and the
night’s concert, Adam probably won’t eat
at all. He’s very excited at this point, which
carries him through, although by the time
the concert is over, “I usually want to eat
a twenty-inch pizza solo.” He will grab a
nap, then get a massage, trying to loosen
the tension that conductors carry in their
shoulders and upper back. The knottiness
results from pulling and prodding the
orchestra into shape with their arms; this is
equivalent to holding your arms up for two
or three hours with dictionaries in them.
It’s an upper body workout, an extreme
sport of the arts.
He rarely listens to music before
performances, particularly not recordings
of the pieces he plans to conduct. “The
minute I know that I’m going to perform
a piece, I do not listen to any recordings of
it. Never!” he says. “Once I’ve committed
myself to doing a piece, all I care about is
what the score is telling me. I just want to
get it straight from the composer.”
This is his life. “I love my children so
much. I have two of them and my dear wife
and I get to make my living making music.
It’s not always perfect, but it’s idyllic.”
The final encounter with Adam is both
a viewing and a sighting. Leaving the auditorium, I hear someone whistling melodiously; it
is a joyful sound and I know it’s Adam, who
soon comes into sight, unaware that he’s been
spotted. When he sees me, his first response is a
characteristic concern for me and whether or
not I’m lost. We both acknowledge that we are
geographically challenged, but, at least for the
moment, we both know where we are going. w
Chris Agnew
“Living on an island is like living in
a storybook—a children’s book.
I was born in Hollywood, grew
up in LA and came to the island
in ’96.” Tanya, Chris’s wife, grew
up on the island and they settled
here because of her “roots.”
“We can show the kids where
their mom went to school. It’s a
great place to raise kids. There’s
room to run around, the climate
is moderate; people don’t hesitate
to put money into schools, you
can have a garden—have that
peace nature offers yet enjoy the
balance of city and country.”
Chris talked about parents’ huge
say in kid’s upbringing…about
the great parent involvement in
schools. “Here is a community
where we create the entire
environment for raising kids.
”Here among the trees I like
it most; here among the
trees I have no problems.”
SCW
Peninsula Life
11
S
h
Art
o
w
C
a
s
e
Duncan Y ves Mc K ie r nan , S c u lpt u r e , P o r t A n g eles
12
Peninsula Life
S
h
Art
o
w
C
a
s
e
M ichael Dennis , Cedar S c u lpt u r e , O lympic colle g e / P o u lsbo
Peninsula Life
13
S
h
Art
o
w
C
a
s
e
S A C , Glass T ile , C har les Wilkes S chool
14
Peninsula Life
S
h
Art
o
w
C
a
s
e
s u mme r D ay C a r e , Mu r al , P o r t townsend
Peninsula Life
15
GRAPEVINE
Hoodsport Winery
by Laurence Davidson, Sommelier, MCS
It takes gumption to be
a pioneer; just look at
Peggy and Dick Patterson.
In starting one of Washington’s first wineries, they have kept that tough-as-nails,
hearty Americana spirit alive today. Even
some of the grapes they use are pioneers.
Coming from arguably the oldest continuously operating vineyard in Washington
State, the Island Belle grape, first planted
on Stretch Island in the early 1870s, exemplifies the pioneering spirit that permeates
everything the Pattersons do.
The Patterson’s early commitment to, and continued work with, this
obscure and interesting grape variety has
led to speculation over the years as to its
origin. There are few clues. Island Belle
is thought to be a Vitus lambrusca hybrid
cross between Concord and Hartford
grapes; sometimes identified as Campbell’s
Early—maybe erroneously, as geneticists
have not tackled its lineage to date. Some
horticulturists posit that it is a lambrusca
and vinifera hybrid.
By making lovely wines from such a
unique grape, Dick and Peggy have demonstrated that they are not your ordinary
winemakers, not content to play it safe with
only recognizable grape variety wines that
get lost in the ever-growing and crowded
Washington wine scene.
There were only a handful of commercial wineries in the entire Northwest at
the time the Pattersons decided to pursue
their Hoodsport project. In 1973, the Pattersons purchased the property that today
is home to Hoodsport Winery—on Highway 101, just a mile south of the town of
Hoodsport along Hood Canal. There, they
opened a small gift shop to serve the tourist trade while making the long commute
from Tacoma, where they lived and worked
as educators. Dick was teaching at Tacoma
Community College while Peggy was filling in as a substitute teacher at TCC as well
as teaching at Pacific Lutheran University.
After five years of commuting, something bizarre happened. Dick and Peggy
and their Tacoma neighbor, Wayne Hazel,
a winemaker and a Boeing employee who
was about to be laid off due to the economic downturn of the day, got the crazy
notion that starting a winery would be fun.
Some might call this a momentary lapse
in reason, a slip into short-term insanity.
The Pattersons found the idea of owning
a winery a romantic calling, though there
were also more practical considerations: it
would give their children something to do
in the summertime while working with the
family, as well as teaching them a craft.
It was two years from the time the
Pattersons submitted their applications
to operate a commercial winery before
they could open their doors to the public.
Today, they lay claim to being the 16th winery licensed in the state of Washington.
In the early days, Hoodsport Winery made wines from fruit other than
grapes—a practice they continue today.
Unlike many operations that choose to add
a port, or a fruit wine into their offerings as
an afterthought, the Pattersons began their
winery by crafting and selling fruit wines.
Raspberry wine was the cornerstone of the
operation, winning awards and pleasing
those who tasted it. Producing raspberry
Peninsula Life
17
wine was hard to accomplish, though—not
because of any difficulty in technique, but
because getting approval from the licensing
bodies proved very difficult. The government agent in Washington DC assigned
to approve their raspberry wine label did
not know, literally, what a raspberry was, so
their initial label applications were rejected.
Dick and Peggy had to work extensively
with the agency to prove that such a thing
as a raspberry did exist and could be used
to create an excellent fruit wine.
Was it foresight—the idea of starting with a fruit wine? Peggy laughs at that
thought, preferring the term “ignorance”
instead. “We wanted to make things that
we liked to drink,” she says, and those were
fruit wines with a sweeter and carefully
defined berry flavor. Working with fruit
as diverse as loganberry, gooseberry, cranberry, pear, apple, rhubarb, raspberry and
blackberry, the Pattersons have won awards
spanning three decades for their fruit wines
and cordials, which are generally sold only
at the winery.
18
Peninsula Life
Today, making fruit wine is a growing trend among many wineries here,
although European winemakers have been
producing fruit-based wines and cordials
for centuries. Fruit wines are the historical
descendents of herbal medicines and tinctures produced primarily by abbey monks,
beginning early in the 13th century. Not
only are they good for you, but—as the
monks knew very well—the wines can be
wonderfully delicious and complement a
wide variety of dishes.
The winery plugged along as Wayne
and the Pattersons experimented and
expanded their craft. It was during this
phase that the Island Belle was introduced
into the mix. “We struggled in the very
early years, between 1983 and 1985,”
Peggy says. “We had the gift shop—which
was finally remodeled into the Patterson
family home—down the road, and the
winery to contend with, too. This was the
busiest time, with 16- to 18-hour days for
all of us. The kids really helped, did a lot
of work.”
As the years progressed and awards
started coming in for their fruit-based
wines, the Pattersons began working with
more commonly known grape varieties.
They continued to work with the historical
Island Belle but slowly added Chardonnay,
Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Gewürztraminer and Riesling for their white wines,
while Pinot Noir, Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet
Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc were introduced to produce red wines.
With some commercial success,
showcased by a greatly expanded range
of wines, the Pattersons, in following
their pioneering muse, started to work
with other obscure varietals being grown
in Washington: Lemburger—or Blue
Franc—a red grape from Austria; Müller
Thurgau, a white grape from Germany;
and Madeleine Angevine, a white grape
from France.
Working with that many varieties
invariably leads a winemaker to mad-scientist experimentation. From these different grapes, they crafted a few experimental
GRAPEVINE
blended wines in addition to the singlevarietal bottlings; a practice they continue
today. Currently, they produce a white
blend called White Cap, and a few red
blends consisting of Island Belle/Merlot,
a Lemburger/Cabernet Sauvignon, and a
Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot under their
“Orca Series” wine label.
The Orca Series came about from a
partnering agreement with another winemaking facility. Designed to raise awareness of the dwindling habitat and shrinking
numbers of Orca whales, part of the proceeds go to awareness programs run by the
Orca Network, a non-profit educational
and conservation agency in Washington
State. The Orca Series of wines have been
warmly received by both the public and
press, garnering a coveted Best Value buy
from Robert Parkers’ Wine Enthusiast.
Today, Peggy Patterson thrives on
being busier than any dozen people. She
is the CEO of Hoodsport Winery and also
serves on the Washington Wine Commission, the Puget Sound Grape Growers’
Association and the Western Washington
Horticulture Association. Personally and
warmly greeting the many visitors the winery receives every day, she is also quick to
lend a hand in the daily operations.
Dick, now in his early 70s, has
slowed his daily workload but is still
involved in the business and can be found
strolling along the rows of tanks or in the
lab. He still oversees the Hood Canal facility, but also puts in a hand at the Zillah,
Washington winemaking operation, which
is responsible for the majority of Vitus
vinifera—or classic grape variety—wines;
mainly the Orca Series labels. Peggy points
out that Dick has the better palate and
is constantly studying and tinkering to
improve his knowledge and techniques
for crafting wines from a widely divergent
source of materials.
Dick is also an avid fly-fisherman—a
passion since his youth. He travels frequently to his home state of Montana to
fish the clean and peaceful rivers of his
childhood. He wears an easy smile—his
face scored with laugh creases and the look
of someone who has been through life and
enjoyed every minute.
20
Peninsula Life
With over 80 awards for their
fruit and grape wines, (including a very
prestigious and coveted Gold from the
Challenge International du Vin, France,
for their 1994 Cabernet Sauvignon and
the Governor’s Award for their raspberry
cordial), Hoodsport Winery has achieved
something that few have—long-term success and growth in a business directed by
the whims of nature. And they’ve done it
on their terms. By producing the varieties
of wines they love, they are unique in a
world that presses for homogeny.
Looking into the future is always a
difficult bit of magic, yet the Pattersons
seem to know where they are going. “In
the wine business you don’t have a choice.
There are only two directions to go, up or
down. You must always keep that upward
momentum of constant improvement,”
says Dick.
The pioneering spirit that gave rise
to Hoodsport Winery is getting a premium
boost from an unlikely source. Peggy Patterson is fully aware of the changes coming
to the Pacific Northwest due to the growing
presence and influence of global warming.
“It’s getting warmer here every year
and it shows in the types of grapes that are
being planted and ripening,” Peggy says.
She has already been looking at the projections of the shift in climate and sees great
opportunity for the Puget Sound American
Viticultural Area—an AVA that has struggled for respect because its historically cool
climate and short growing season has not
been ideal for grapevines, especially those
that require much more heat to fully ripen
into great wine-producing grapes. Predictions from recently published studies show
that the northern Pacific Northwest (western Washington and British Columbia) will
be, in another 10 to 15 years, capable of
growing world-class Cabernet Sauvignon,
Zinfandel, Merlot and Pinot family vines
with great success.
In the past five years, 70+ new
vineyards have been planted in the Puget
Sound region, with more on the way. Some
already are showing ripening success with
grapes as notoriously fickle as Pinot Noir,
Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris. This change
in climate, while a potential disaster for
some long-established wine producing and
growing regions around the world, opens
up a whole new chapter for Washington
wine production and brings a host of new
opportunities with it.
For the Pattersons—the intrepid
pioneers behind Hoodsport Winery—and
those who admire and follow in their footsteps, the future looks promising in western Washington. Hoodsport is prepared to
take advantage of changes by working with
new vineyards and any interesting grape
that comes their way. w
Hoodsport Winery:
North 23501 Highway 101, Hoodsport, WA
www.hoodsport.com
Stretch Island, because of its
historical nature and intertwining
story with Hoodsport Winery,
requires some examination.
It is a small speck of land rising
just above the Puget Sound waters
near Bremerton. Named for Samuel
Stretch, a gunner’s mate, by the
explorer Charles Wilke during his
1841 exploration of the Puget
Sound, Stretch Island became an
unlikely pioneer in the Washington
wine scene. In 1872, a fellow named
Lambert Evans came upon Stretch
Island in search of his personal
Nirvana. An ex-Confederate soldier
who had been released from prison
in the deep south, Mr. Evans, it is
recorded, walked the entire way
from Florida to Southern California
and then up to the Puget Sound.
Having found tranquility and beauty
on the unlikely Stretch Island,
he homesteaded and planted
grapevines, which he thought
would do well. Through the backbreaking work of hand-tilling soil,
laying out and working vineyards
without any mechanization, his
gamble paid off. As his grapevines
matured, Evans, according to local
lore, would row his flat-bottomed
skiff across the 20 miles of Puget
Sound waters to Olympia to sell
his grapes after every harvest.
Those grapes were the Island Belle;
once the most widely planted red
grape in the Pacific Northwest.
Peninsula Life
21
GREEN THUMB
Salal
Gaultheria shallon
Our ubiquitous cornucopia.
by David Deardorff and Kathryn Wadsworth
I
t’s raining. Mid-March in Forks and
rain drips off the bill of my cap, runs
down my face. I cut another branch
of salal and add it to the bundle in
my arms. I look at the mist-shrouded forest of Sitka spruce behind us, then up
at the pewter sky. No let-up in sight.
David shakes the water off his armload
of salal and adds it to the growing pile in
the back of our artist friend, Susan’s, beatup station wagon. Her golden retriever,
Gauguin, soaked and shivering, bounds
through the underbrush chasing imaginary
rabbits.
Susan walks over to the car, tosses her
bundle on top of the pile. “Enough. It’s teatime,” she says as she whistles for the dog.
Gratefully, we get into the car and
head for Susan’s. The aroma of wet dog
overpowers the fragrance of the flowers
and foliage filling the back of the car. We’ve
collected flowers of Oregon grape and redflowering currant in addition to foliage of
salal, evergreen huckleberry and Western
22
Peninsula Life
Salal flowering in the authors’ woodland garden in the springtime on the Olympic Peninsula.
Flowers are pollinated by bees and will mature into black berries, which are edible and sweet
red cedar. Susan intends to use all these
native plants to create an intimate sense of
place at the posh gallery in Pioneer Square
that will host her one-woman show.
In the warmth of her ramshackle farmhouse we shed rain gear, and Susan puts on
the tea kettle. David seizes the moment to
study Susan’s work. Her paintings fill the
walls of the living room, dining room and
hallway. Large canvasses in brilliant colors.
She’s brought her experience with the Taos
neo-expressionists back to the Olympic
Peninsula. Her images re-interpret her
native landscape and glow in the soft silver
light of the Pacific Northwest.
The kettle boils and Susan lifts it off
the heat. “I’ve got some gunpowder green
tea. Interested?”
“You bet,” David says from his seat at
the kitchen table. “When’s your opening?”
“It begins at exactly four-oh-seven in
the afternoon, Pacific standard time, on
Tuesday, March 20th. That’s the precise
moment of the vernal equinox, the first
day of spring.” She glances at me. “Shall
I serve?”
“Please.” I eye the batik scarf she’s
wearing. “One of your own?”
“Yes.” Susan pours out the tea and
hands it around. “Natural dyes from native
plants. This blue is from salal berries and
the yellow-green from salal leaves.”
“Salal. Gaultheria shallon. One of our
most ubiquitous native plants.” I cradle the
handleless hot teacup in my cold hands and
savor the aroma of the gunpowder green
tea. I think about the tea made from salal
and its ability to relieve stomach aches and
treat tuberculosis, coughs and diarrhea.
“Too bad it’s taken for granted today.
I know people who try to stamp it out,
but what a boon it is to the people of this
region,” David says as he adds wood to the
embers in the fireplace. Flames rise and lap
the log.
The indigenous peoples of the
Northwest harvested salal berries in huge
quantities and dried them into loaves. A
Peninsula Life
23
primary food source, these cakes were eaten
throughout the winter with whale or seal
oil. Wildcrafters today often use the sweet
berries to make jams, jellies and pies. Tart
Oregon grapes enhance the flavor.
Smiling, Susan takes a jar of salal berry
jam from her cupboard. “Historically,
didn’t it have medicinal uses too?”
David nods. “Especially the leaves.
Chewing young leaves suppressed hunger.
Mashed leaves were applied as a poultice to
cuts, burns and sores.”
I spread fresh baked scones with the
dark purple jam and take a bite. “This
is the best salal berry jam I’ve ever had.
What’s your secret?”
“I crush whole berries, seeds, skin and
all. I don’t add any other kinds of berries.
While it boils, I add a little sugar to taste.
Not much, ’cause it’ll mask the subtle
flavor. Then, a little water. Usually, I don’t
add pectin.”
Songbirds value the berries as well,
and many people prefer to leave the berries on the bushes in order to attract wild
birds into their gardens. It’s a good way to
counteract the fragmentation of natural
habitat so common in urban and suburban areas. It helps to maintain
ecosystem integrity one small
step at a time.
Long before anyone
had thought much about
urbanization, development and habitat
destruction, Lewis and Clark collected the
first botanical specimens of salal for scientific study. On their famous expedition of
discovery, when this land was wilderness,
Lewis wrote in his journal, “The native
fruits and berries in uce [sic] among the
Indians of this neighborhood are a deep
purple berry about the size of a small cherry
called by them Shal-lon [Salal]…” Later,
Frederick Pursh described and named the
plants collected by Lewis and Clark, using
the native word “shal-lon” for this particular species of Gaultheria.
Twenty years after Lewis and Clark,
the Royal Horticultural Society in Great
Britain sent David Douglas to the Northwest to collect seeds. He shipped them back
to England to the royal Botanic Gardens
at Kew. The British keenly evaluated our
Northwest native plants for their potential
as ornamental subjects for their gardens.
Seeds of salal, Gaultheria shallon, were the
very first Pacific Northwest native plant to
be sent to England by Douglas.
Salal still has enormous
ornamental value. The leafy
branches are a major forest
product, harvested from
the wild, with permission
from the landowner, and
sold to florists, who call
it “lemon-leaf.” Its
extremely long vase
life, attractive shape
and color, and ready
availability make it
a staple ingredient
for floral arrangements.
Our
friend
Susan had decided
to use salal to decorate the gallery for her
Salal berries were a staple
food for Northwest tribes.
Cooked and dried into cakes,
they provided nourishment all
winter long. Today they are
harvested and used for jams
and jellies
opening partly because of these utilitarian
values. More importantly, because salal,
especially when combined with red-flowering current, Oregon grape, and Western
red cedar, captures the spirit of the Pacific
Northwest. The colors, feel and aroma
elucidate the meaning and enhance the
experience of her paintings.
David and Susan discuss pigments
used in oil paints, weighing the relative
merits of the Quinacridone reds and the
Phthalocyanine blues and greens. Gauguin,
dry and sleepy, curls up on the floor in front
of the fireplace. I look out the window. The
sun, bright and cheery, lights up the rainbejeweled salal bushes. Like one of Susan’s
paintings. w
Salal is harvested by the
ton for the florist trade
and is a major non-timber
forest product in the
Pacific Northwest
24
Peninsula Life
Salal,Gaultheria shallon
David Deardorff is a scientist who
uses writing and photography to
explain the science and beauty of
the natural world. He holds a Ph.D.
in Botany from the University of
Washington, where he studied under
Dr. Arthur Kruckeberg and Dr. Leo
Hitchcock. He is now retired from the
faculty of the University of Hawaii
and Washington State University in
Jefferson County.
Kathryn Wadsworth is a writer and
naturalist who loves to explore the
outdoors, whether in the garden or the
wild, and share it with others through
writing and photography. She holds a
Masters Degree in Communications
from the University of New Mexico.
GARDEN TIPS
w Native range: Pacific coastal
region, from Southern California to
Southeast Alaska, from the eastern
slope of the Cascades to the coast.
Salal is abundant on the Olympic
and Kitsap Peninsulas, Washington.
It has naturalized in Great Britain.
w Exposure: Salal is at its best in
dappled light under evergreen trees
like Douglas fir and Western red cedar.
It will tolerate full sun or full shade.
w Water: Little to regular. Handily
survives the west coast annual summer drought without supplemental
watering once established. Appreciates
extra water when grown in full sun.
w Soil: Related to rhododendrons
and azaleas, salal prefers acid soils
in a wide range of textures from
sandy to silty loams. Prefers abundant
organic matter incorporated into
the soil. Resents alkaline soils.
w Temperature: Winter hardiness
to USDA Zones 5 to 10. Sunset
Western Garden Book Zones 3-7,
14-17, 21-24. The Olympic and
Kitsap Peninsulas are USDA Zone 8;
the coastal area where most of the
cities and towns on the peninsula
are located is in Sunset Zone 5.
w Size: Erect growth to three or four
feet high and wide when grown
in partial shade. Can grow taller in
shade (six to ten feet) and shorter
(two feet) and more compact in sun.
w Foliage: Leaves are dark green,
leathery, lustrous, very attractive, and
are evergreen. Early spring new growth
is lighter green. Leaves are large—to
four inches long by two to three inches
wide—and the texture is coarse.
invasive, so careful placement or root
barriers such as pots may be required.
Can be used as a hedge or, unpruned,
as a free-standing evergreen backdrop
in partial shade of woodland gardens.
Can also be grown in containers.
w Flowers: Individual flowers are
small, about a half inch wide, and
white to pink. Flowers are glandularhairy, bell-shaped and hang down on
racemes at the tips of each branch.
w Fruits: Dark purple to black berries
are edible and sweet, showy in the
landscape and loved by birds. The
berries make excellent jams and jellies.
Look for them in late summer and fall.
The leaves of salal were used medicinally by Native Americans,
both as a tea for coughs and as a
poultice for burns and cuts.
w Pests and Diseases: A very low
maintenance plant. Can be subject
to root weevils which eat notches on
the edges of leaves. Can sometimes
become infected with leaf spots caused
by any of several different fungi.
w Garden uses: Broad-leaf evergreen
shrubs such as salal are particularly useful to establish the bones of the garden.
It tolerates pruning and shaping well
and can be grown as a ground cover
with a yearly high mowing to maintain
low stature. Salal spreads aggressively
by underground runners and can be
Peninsula Life
25
Far Reaches Farm
26
Peninsula Life
by Mary Robson
Y
ou can tour the world of plants
just by visiting Far Reaches
Farm. This new nursery is
rooted in and thrives on the
Olympic Peninsula in Port
Townsend. But its tendrils extend across
the globe, growing from seeds gathered
from exotic destinations.
Far Reaches’ owners, Kelly Dodson
and Sue Milliken, specialize in growing
unique garden plants from different parts
of the world—South Africa, Tasmania,
China, Tibet and India. They hunt seeds
themselves and get them by trading with
other “plant nuts.” For example, “We have
a friend who goes to Tibet on business,
collects seeds, and we grow them,” Kelly
explains.
Far Reaches’ name describes their
international collecting mania, but is
also somewhat of a pun. Kelly says, “We
thought it would be a far reach to get this
going, after we’d both owned other nurseries.” Their personal partnership merged
two nurseries and two lifetimes of fascination with plants. “This is who we are, this
is all we’ve ever done,” he adds.
The pair settled in Port Townsend
about 8 years ago, acting on Sue’s “longtime attraction to the place.” When they
began building the nursery, their 6-acre
farm property had a big barn and shed.
They’ve since added four large greenhouses, now stuffed to their edges with plants
in progress. And, they continue to expand:
spring of 2007 will find a larger sales area to
allow them to offer even more plants. They
persist in their passion despite the decline
in the numbers of independent nursery
producers. “A lot of them have closed in
the past three years,” Kelly notes.
Far Reaches gives all of us access to
plants we’d never be able to see or find
without Kelly and Sue’s dedicated efforts.
They work full-time with the help of two
Sue, Kelly and Canela
(Spanish for “cinnamon”)
27
part-time employees and their part-terrier,
Canela, to produce their unusual plants.
Walking through the greenhouse,
Kelly touches and observes plants as if he’s
offering them some of his energy. “These
are our babies,” he smiles. And he describes
dashing out of bed—wearing a camper’s
headlamp but little else—to rescue cuttings of tree dahlia (Dahlia imperialis) from
a sudden November freeze.
Although it can be difficult at times,
Kelly says, “We’ll not give up trying to grow
the obscure and the unprofitable—we like
the challenge. Many of our plants just don’t
adapt well to mass production.” For Far
Reaches Farm, 20 of any plant constitutes
a large planting.
Travel to “wild” places to gather seeds
excites them: “If funded, I would be off
plant hunting all the time,” Kelly laughs.
Hunting in the “wild” means travel to areas
seldom visited by Westerners and being
open to what occurs where tourists never
venture. Kelly quotes himself on agreeing to
an expedition: “Of course I’ll go, but where
the heck is Nagaland?” It’s the wild north28
Peninsula Life
east corner of India, a seldom-explored area
touching the Burmese border.
Kelly speaks with pride of traveling
in the same style as “old-time collectors,”
who are impervious to discomfort, do their
research in advance and proceed fearlessly
into the unknown. Sue remembers, “In
China, on the last trip, we stayed at a hotel
at the base of a mountain and slept with the
lights on all night to keep the rats away.”
Not your textbook tourists, Kelly and
Sue travel where roads vanish, cross swinging bridges in the dark, deal with machinegun-carrying rebel armies on patrol, as
they were in Nagaland, and routinely stop
to fix flat tires. They climbed Nagaland’s
nearly 13,000 foot Mt. Saramati, clambering up through thickets—sometimes on
their knees—where paths had to be cut by
machetes. A small hotel fire led Kelly to
write, “We looked out and, sure enough,
my worst fears were about to come true—I
was going to miss breakfast.”
Extreme travel pleases both of them,
and Sue says, “What I’ve loved the most
is embracing new cultures, seeing people
Lobelia tupa
who haven’t met Westerners very often and
joining them.” Travel, for them, means
developing human relationships as well as
collecting seeds.
Importing collected seeds requires
a briarpatch of permits, and Kelly notes,
“We do everything by the book.” They
use a general plant import permit as well
as a CITES permit (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species),
even though many of the seeds they collect
are not listed as endangered. Traveling as
they do requires local paperwork, permits,
guides and interpreters. They also keep
intricate and detailed records on each seed:
where gathered, plants in association with
it, when and how collected, results when
sowed.
Collecting seeds constitutes a mission for them. Sue believes that with so
much destruction of habitat—“China
has changed incredibly since our visit in
1997”—the germ plasm they gather in
other countries can someday be taken back
to areas where the plant has disappeared.
Bringing back seeds is just the first
step. Coaxing growth from those seeds isn’t
easy, although both of them thrive on the
joys and uncertainties of plant propagation.
“We are growers; we grow stuff we want
to see available, even if it is difficult and
time-consuming,” Kelly contends. One
thing they’ve learned is to keep seed flats,
even those appearing empty, to be sure
they haven’t missed the irregular germination of a rare plant. Kelly says, “I would
never throw out a seed flat until it’s been
five years.” He adds, “Every seed is just a
surprise package, and we like surprises,
especially the good ones.”
To be successful, Kelly and Sue rely on
their combined years of experience, and do
constant research and practical experimenting. With some seeds, they separate the
supply, planting part in the fall, and part
in the spring to see how they respond to
different conditions. They’ve devoted time
and money to developing effective potting
mixes, and if they receive plants grown by
another nursery, they repot them in their
own mix. “Ninety percent of what we sell,
we have grown ourselves, and we know
where these seeds originate,” Kelly says.
Sue adds, “We have to put costs
into the soil, it’s what helps with success.
Customers notice that their plants grow
vigorously without being pumped up with
fertilizer. We’ve been topdressing beds with
washed dairy manure. The plants love it.
We use no peat moss in our mix, no fungicides, no toxic insecticides. What happens,
happens.”
Their business fits well into the
Olympic Peninsula because they work for
sustainability and environmental friendliness. They are small and local, working
to protect small farms and open space
preservation while keeping their work personal. They’ve expressed some of their local
dedication by donating plants for the boxes
next to Haller Fountain in Port Townsend.
One of several greenhouses
used to start plants with
precious seeds brought back
from exotic places around
the world.
Jeanne Ball and her canine
pal Leonard lend a hand at
the Farm.
Triosteum himalayanum,
grown from seeds brought
from China.
Alstroemeria x Bomarea
(hybrid)
“That stuff needs to be tough,” Kelly
explains, then adds, “The palms honor the
late Steve Corra who loved them.”
Kelly’s irresistible, wry and dry humor
comes through on unique plant labels and
in his blog (www.farreachesfarm.com).
Fearless about his opinions, he may even
feature the local touch on a label, as in his
description of the spectacular Chilean Fire
Tree (Embothrium coccineum): “Our classic,
all-time Desert Island plant where, if we
were stranded and could only choose one
plant etc., we would be sitting beneath an
Embothrium munching a Tyler Street Pesto
Savory Scone and drinking a Townsend
Bay Pinot Gris. A 4-alarm inferno of flame
red flowers.”
Love for their plants also shows in their
extensive—with more to come—display
gardens. When they’ve grown the plant to
maturity, they can demonstrate its character more completely. Kelly and Sue urge
visitors to expand garden palettes and try
new plant varieties. They evaluate plants
for drought tolerance, deer resistance, and
their poise in local gardens. Their berm
garden parallels the drive into the sales
area; their shade garden, planted only
two years ago, features spring blooming
species: rhododendrons, arisemas, clumps
of double trillium, double bloodroot and
hardy orchids.
We gardeners who are not planning to
scramble through jungle foliage in search of
plants can forge over to Far Reaches Farm,
where we benefit from the knowledge and
integrity these two bring to their business.
Their attitude can be distilled by Kelly’s
summary of their work: “The plant world
is infinite, and we are still learning.” w
Peninsula Life
29
Far Reaches Farm Recommends
Flowering plants:
Arisaema costatum: Himalayan
Jack-in-the-Pulpit. Fabulous
big, three-lobed leaves and
hooded cobra flowers of
maroon with pale stripes.
Bletilla striata: Hardy and tough
Chinese orchid with pink or
white perfect orchid flowers.
Cardiocrinum giganteum:
Himalayan lily relative, flowering
at 8’-12’ with big, fragrant white
trumpets with maroon throats.
Cotula lineariloba: Sun-loving
South African, it makes low mounds
of feathery silver leaves that like
petting and is topped by wiry stems
holding yellow button flowers.
Galega ‘Lady Wilson’: British
selection of this herbaceous perennial. To 6’ high with loads of light
blue and white Lupine-like flowers
for two months in summer.
Vines and Shrubs
Geranium libani: Wintergrowing, spring-blooming and
summer-dormant rock-hardy
Geranium from Syria and Lebanon.
Totally drought tolerant.
Kniphofia pauciflora: Not your
regular Red-Hot Poker. Diminutive
species from South Africa, under
2’ tall. Yellow flowers late spring
and reblooms through summer.
Lilium nepalense: Northern
Indian lily with huge, pendulous
pale yellow flowers on the outside
and rich dark red-purple inside.
Meconopsis ‘Lingholm’:
Himalayan Blue Poppy. The
best perennial selection, with
big crepe paper true, blue
flowers. A fabled plant.
Veratrum stamineum: Japanese
counterpart to our native False
Hellebore, but gorgeous white flowers that may be the best in the genus.
Billardiera longiflora: Tasmanian
Blueberry Vine. Small evergreen
vine to 10’ with fabulous marblesized non-messy fruit, from late
summer until hard freeze.
Physocarpus malvaceus: Mallow
Ninebark. East-of-the-Cascades
shrub with showy clusters of white
flowers, neat peeling shreddy
bark and great fall color.
Genuine Green Jade
ring and bracelet
Sterling silver
Guaranteed for life by Boma
Ring $64
Bracelet $84
0
72
S tr
er
at
W
ownsend
Port T
eet
Da
ay
ily
rid
9:30
F
n
am–6
pm until 8pm o
Free
Gift
le
ilab
Wrapping and Shipping Ava
w w w. t h e g r e e n e y e s h a d e . c o m • 3 6 0 - 3 8 5 - 3 8 3 8 o r 8 8 8 - 7 8 5 - 3 8 3 8
30
Peninsula Life
HEALTH
Menopause and Life
Beyond Hormone Replacement Therapy
by Narinder Duggal, MD
One thing I know in medicine is that
I am always humbled by what we do not
know. I am certain that change is the only
certainty we have in life.
The core of medical dogma about
women’s health has been shaken by recent
research results from the University of
Texas’ M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.
A study there reported a 7 to 15 percent
reduction in breast cancer after women
reduced their use of hormone replacement
therapy. The message is clear: hormone
therapy—the most complex of drug therapies—is not well understood, and we need
alternative choices for menopausal women.
While numerous studies have reached
similar conclusions, many physicians continue to promote the use of oral hormones
in menopause.
Prior to the 20th century, many
women didn’t live long enough to experience menopause. In fact, the average
woman lived to be 45 years old. Today, the
average woman lives to be older than 86
years and may live one-third to one-half of
her life after the onset of menopause. Now,
nearly one-third of American women, or
over 37 million, are between the ages of 40
and 60. Each year, 1.3 million American
women enter menopause.
Menopause needs to be addressed
more by the medical professions, as women
face symptoms such as hot flashes, mood
swings, decreased libido, vaginal dryness,
and insomnia. It’s not just the women
who suffer: spouses and children share the
distress. Medicine still has questions about
what causes these symptoms and why
menopause seems to be linked with greater
risks of heart disease and some cancers.
Study after study has shown that
the initial hypothesis and protocol for
hormone replacement therapy (HRT)
cause more cumulative harm than good
for women. The initial observation made
sense. The symptoms experienced by
menopausal women seem to improve with
HRT. Therefore, the assumption was that
hormones must be good for you. It was
logical that HRT became the answer to
women’s menopause-related symptoms.
Furthermore, total cholesterol and good
cholesterol (HDL) appeared to improve
with HRT, and it was assumed that
improved cholesterol decreased the risk of
heart disease in women.
In the 1990s, several studies suggested that HRT could help prevent heart
attacks, osteoporosis, colon cancer, and
even Alzheimer’s disease.
“It was believed to be almost malpractice not to offer women estrogen for
menopause,” says Dr. Isaac Schiff, chief of
gynecology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. However, there was a dark
side to hormones. They were associated
with an increased rate of breast cancer and
clots, but the medical establishment was
almost certain that the benefits of cardiovascular protection and bone health were
greater than the risk. Fortunately, medical science challenged the accepted HRT
hypothesis with randomized studies.
In July 2002, the common belief that
hormones were the fountain of youth was
shattered. The landmark and groundbreaking results from the Women’s Health
Initiative (WHI), a large, eight-year study
funded by the National Institutes of Health,
found that HRT did not prevent heart
disease or breast cancer. In fact, it raised
the risks slightly. Estrogen and progesterone in the form of Prempro also caused an
increase in venous clots in the lungs and
legs. On the positive side, HRT decreased
bone fractures and colon cancer. However,
based on the body of evidence, HRT caused
more harm than good, and the study was
stopped early. Estrogen is still a standard
treatment for hot flashes and mood swings
if the symptoms are severe. But now many
doctors personalize treatment with a variety of formulations in pills, patches, and
creams. Some also recommend alternative
therapies. Here is what every middle-aged
woman and her family need to know about
menopause:
Q When does menopause begin?
A Menopause actually occurs in three
phases. The first, called perimenopause,
can last for two to eight years as the ovaries
gradually decrease estrogen production. At
this time, women may have irregular menstrual periods, hot flashes, night sweats,
Peninsula Life
31
and some mood swings. Actual menopause
is defined retrospectively after a woman’s
periods have stopped for 12 consecutive
months. The average age is 51 in America,
but some women are affected in their early
40s. The final phase, called post-menopause, refers to the 35 or so years that most
women live after their periods stop.
Q
What are the quality-of-life issues
and long-term health risks of menopause?
A Hot
flashes are the most common
symptom, affecting up to 75 percent of
perimenopausal and recently menopausal
women. One-third of them report more
than 10 hot flashes a day. Sleep disruption,
mood disturbance and memory problems
are other common complaints, along with
vaginal dryness, headaches, and heart palpitations. About a third of all menopausal
women have either mild or no symptoms, a
third have moderate ones, and for another
third, they’re serious. Some 25 percent of
women continue to experience symptoms
for 10 years or more. Interesting data shows
that women who maintain their ideal body
weight have the fewest menopausal symptoms.
When estrogen levels drop, the rate
of bone loss accelerates rapidly. The average woman loses two to three percent of
bone mass yearly for the first three years
after menopause. As a result, osteoporosis
is much more common in the decades after
menopause. A woman’s risk of heart disease
also increases sharply after menopause, but
the American College of Cardiology no
longer considers estrogen’s role cardio-protective.
Q
What are the lessons from the
Women’s Health Initiative (WHI)
study and the University of Texas
Study?
A The WHI was conducted mainly to
learn if HRT could prevent heart disease.
It involved 16,600 women, average age 63,
who were taking Prempro, a combination
of estrogen and progestin.
Although the study was supposed to
be conducted for eight years, it was halted
early—in 2002—because the risk of breast
32
Peninsula Life
cancer appeared to exceed any benefits of
HRT. In fact, in the population studied,
HRT carried a small but significant risk
of breast cancer, heart attack, stroke, and
blood clots. Results from another part of
the study showed no benefit from HRT in
preventing Alzheimer’s or other memory
loss, and it did not improve the quality of
life in postmenopausal women. The study
did find that HRT helped lessen the risk of
hip fractures and colon cancer.
The latest study from the University
of Texas provided further evidence that
HRT is associated with an increase in risk
of breast cancer. The observation was made
that there has been a 7 to 15 percent reduction in breast cancer cases in recent years,
following decreased use of HRT after the
published results of the WHI study.
Q Is HRT a valid option and a promising look at a natural remedy?
A About 28 percent of U.S. women aged
50 to 74 are taking HRT. That’s because,
despite the WHI findings, nothing seems to
works better. However, data from Europe
and, in particular, Germany, a world leader
in natural evidenced-based medicine, show
Klimadynon (Bionorica’s special extract of
black cohosh) to give menopausal symptom
reduction equivalent to that for pharmaceutical hormones. The consensus among
American physicians who are not aware of
the world literature is that short-term HRT
is “probably” safe for healthy menopausal
women who take the lowest effective dose
to ease symptoms. Ultimately, women
should aim to limit HRT use to five years,
and women with a history of breast cancer,
blood clots, or liver disease should avoid
it entirely. If physicians were more aware
of the literature from Europe, they would
see that there is compelling data to support the use of natural medicines to treat
menopausal symptoms.
Q What other drugs can treat menopausal symptoms?
A Ironically,
instead of looking to a
natural safe remedy like Klimadynon,
many physicians are treating the multitude of menopausal symptoms separately
with pharmaceutical drugs, and playing
prescription drug “roulette.” Is it logical
to give a woman separate medications for
each menopausal symptom: sleeping, hot
flash, mood swings, and anxiety? Clinicians justify this approach based on studies
of women with breast cancer. The studies
found that antidepressants such as Effexor
and Paxil can help reduce hot flashes by 50
percent or more in a majority of patients.
But these antidepressants come with their
own side effects, such as decreased libido
and sleep disruption, and some women
have trouble getting off of them. Clonidine, a blood pressure medicine, is also
sometimes prescribed for hot flashes. Used
in patch form, it can reduce symptoms by
up to 50 percent, but at the most effective dose it can also cause dizziness and
fatigue.
Q Can certain diets and exercise
help?
A Absolutely. There’s overwhelming evi-
dence that diet and lifestyle changes, such
as transitioning to a plant-based diet and
daily exercise, can reduce and/or eliminate
the symptoms of menopause. It is indisputable that a healthy lifestyle is critical in
minimizing menopausal symptoms.
Q How
up?
A It’s
do natural remedies stack and clinically tested products in the world
a mixed picture. Hundreds of
products claiming to relieve menopausal
symptoms are sold in supermarkets, health
food stores, and pharmacies. Most contain
phytoestrogens, a natural form of estrogen
derived from plants. Most of these products have no clinical trials showing their
efficacy and safety.
Klimadynon is a natural phytoestrogen made from the plant black cohosh
(Cimicifuga racemosa). Different from other
phytoestrogen products, it is the only natural estrogen to undergo a one-year clinical
trial that has proven it effective and safe
in reducing menopausal symptoms. In fact
Klimadynon, produced by Bionorica, is
just as effective as HRT, without the latter’s
dangerous side effects. Klimadynon has
been recognized by the National Institutes
of Health for outstanding research, efficacy, and safety. One of the best-validated
of natural evidence-based medicines, Klimadynon is the only black cohosh extract
that, in a head-to-head study recently
published in a peer reviewed journal, has
shown equal efficacy to estrogen in reducing hot flashes. Klimadynon also appears
to have natural selective estrogen receptor
modulator (SERM)-like activity.
Ironically, medicine is trying to develop new synthetic SERMs, which could
ease symptoms of menopause and protect
bone and heart health without adding to
the risk of breast cancer—but is ignoring
data on “natural SERM.”
Herbal creams and bioidentical hormones containing estrogen and progesterone may help with hot flashes, but since
they are not regulated by the Food and
Drug Administration, it’s hard to know
what you’re getting. Also, these are still synthetic hormones and more data is needed on
their role in treating menopause. Even with
these limitations, they are a good choice if
natural remedies are not effective.
Menopause symptoms are not going
to go away and we have to re-think our
approach to treatment. The foundation
of therapy is maintaining your ideal body
weight, getting regular exercise, sleeping
well, and eating a diet high in plant-based
foods. If menopausal symptoms continue
to persist, then high quality, evidencebased natural medicines like Klimadynon
may be the next viable option.
If natural medicines are not enough,
then topical estrogen and progesterone
should be tried, but these are expensive
because they have to be prepared by a compounding pharmacy. If your symptoms are
too severe and the above therapies have not
decreased symptoms, oral HRT could be
your last option, but use the lowest dose
for the shortest duration of time.
Until next time, stay healthy and be
well. w
Peninsula Life
33
BEANS
ARE BACK
IN STYLE
by Ginny Messina, MPH, RD
L
et’s face it—it can be a little
difficult to forge a culinary
relationship with beans.
With the exception of
baked beans, many Americans didn’t eat these foods when they were
growing up. And it can be hard to let go of
the idea that beans are boring.
Sophisticated Cuisine from
a True Superfood
One way to update your attitude about this
group of foods is to become familiar with
their use in other cultures. Beans are central to some of the most exotic and sophisticated cuisine throughout the world. Try
garlic-infused Cuban black beans, spicy
Indian lentil curry, or lemony chickpea
hummus from the Middle East. Or make a
simple peasant dish from Sicily by simmering chickpeas with fresh tomatoes, garlic,
onions and herbs and serving it with good
Italian bread and a glass of Chianti.
If the culinary appeal of beans is not
enough to win you over, their incredible
health benefits may get your attention.
There is a reason that beans are at center
stage in the diets of most of the world’s
people: they are an incredible nutrition
bargain. Low in fat and free of both saturated fat and cholesterol, these foods are
packed with protein and fiber. They are
also rich in the B-vitamin folate, which
34
Peninsula Life
helps to prevent both heart disease and
cancer, as well as birth defects. And they
are good sources of minerals like iron and
zinc and, often, calcium. Beans are linked
to reduced risk for cancer, heart disease,
diabetes and Alzheimer’s Disease.
Pesty Gas
Believe it or not, a little intestinal gas is
good for you. Beans contain sugars that
humans can’t digest. The sugars travel
through the intestines to the colon where
they are broken down by bacteria. In the
process, the bacteria produce gas. Certain
types of bacteria really like bean sugars.
Eating more beans actually promotes
growth of these friendly bacteria in the
colon, contributing to an environment
that reduces colon cancer risk.
But healthy or not, gas can be uncomfortable, not to mention embarrassing.
Most people adjust over time to beans
and feel much less gassy after eating them.
Exercise, like a walk after dinner, may help,
too. You can also choose to eat beans with
less gas-producing potential, such as lentils
and split peas. Rinsing beans before soaking them helps, too. First, place the beans
and water in a pot and bring to a boil. Boil
for two minutes, rinse the beans and add
fresh water. Then soak as usual.
Finally, you can purchase products
like Beano that pre-digest the bean sugars.
Cooking Beans
If you are too busy to cook beans from
their dried state, canned beans are delicious,
healthful and convenient. Cooking beans
from scratch takes a little planning—you
need to soak them first—but it doesn’t take
much time or effort. To cook beans, follow
these simple steps:
1. Rinse the beans in a colander and then
place in a pot or bowl with 3 cups cold
water per cup of beans.
2. Let the beans soak in the refrigerator for
at least four hours or as long as 24 hours.
(Lentils and split peas don’t require
soaking.)
3. Drain the beans and put into a pot with
3 cups of water for every cup of dried
beans you started with.
4. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and
cook until beans are tender—1 to 2
hours depending on the type of bean.
Beans in a Hurry
Oops—did you forget to soak your beans?
Then try the quick-soak method. Rinse
the beans and place in a pot. Add 3 cups
of water for every cup of beans. Bring the
water and beans to a boil and let boil for 2
minutes. Remove from heat, cover and let
stand at room temperature for 1 hour. Then
drain, add fresh water and cook as usual. w
What to do with Beans
Once beans are cooked, it’s easy to turn them
into quick and tasty dishes. Here are a few ideas:
◗ Mexican-style beans: For each
cup of cooked beans, stir in ¼ cup salsa
and ¼ cup corn kernels. Heat and serve
over rice topped with shredded cheese,
chopped avocado and tomatoes.
◗ Mediterranean beans: Sauté ½
cup chopped onion and 2 stalks of
celery in 3 tablespoons of olive oil until
they are tender. Stir in 2 cans or 3 cups
of cooked black beans, 4 ounces sliced
pimiento-stuffed green olives, and a
4-ounce can of chopped chili peppers.
◗ Beans with mushrooms: Sauté
1 ½ cups sliced mushrooms in 2
tablespoons olive oil. Add 3 cups
of cooked beans and season with
black pepper and fresh lemon juice.
You might also add canned or
chopped tomatoes to this dish.
◗ Barbecued beans: Mix in 3
tablespoons prepared barbecue
sauce per cup of cooked beans.
using vegetarian sausage). Simmer
together until everything is heated
through and the apples are tender.
◗ Zesty beans with tomato
sauce: Mix in 3 tablespoons
prepared spicy spaghetti sauce
per cup of cooked beans.
◗ Italian-style beans with figs:
Sauté ¼ cup chopped onion and a clove
of minced garlic in 1 tablespoon of olive
oil. Add 3 cups of cooked white beans
and ½ cup chopped figs. Season with 1
teaspoon each dried basil and rosemary.
◗ Good luck beans: Sauté 1 cup of
chopped onion and 2 garlic cloves,
minced in 3 tablespoons of olive oil.
Add 4 cups of beans and ¼ teaspoon
ground cayenne pepper (or more if
you like your food very spicy). Make
this with black-eyed peas for a very
traditional southern New Year’s Day
supper. (This dish is supposed to bring
good luck for the coming year!)
◗ Beans with apples and
sausage: Sauté ½ cup of onions in 2
tablespoons of olive oil. Add 3 cups
of cooked beans, 1 diced apple, and 4
ounces of crumbled cooked sausage
(make this dish extra healthful by
◗ Sloppy Joes: Add a 15-ounce can
of Sloppy Joe sauce to two cups of
cooked beans. Heat and serve over
whole-wheat hamburger rolls.
◗ Bean and potato soup: For a super
fast soup, sauté one cup of chopped
onions and 2 cloves minced garlic in
2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add 2 cups
diced potatoes 2 cups of cooked beans,
and 8 cups of vegetable broth. Simmer
for 20 minutes until the potatoes are
tender. Season with basil and oregano.
◗ Bean and grain salad: Toss 3 cups
of any cooked grain with 1 cup of
cooked beans. Season with bottled or
homemade salad dressing. Add ¼ cup
each of minced onion and chopped
celery for added flavor and crunch.
Virginia Messina, MPH, RD,
is a dietitian with a master’s degree
in public health nutrition.
Peninsula Life
35
Trainer’s Corner
Overhead “Military” Press:
Exercise
Your
Shoulders
by
Teresa Hoffmann,
ACE C.P.T.
The shoulder, which
many of us think of
as a single joint, is
actually a fantastic
complex of four joints
and an amazing—and
sometimes finicky—set
of 11 muscles and their
attendant connective
tissues. Sooner or
later, most everyone
experiences some sort
of shoulder issue, which
is why it is so important
to give this area of your
body regular attention.
Grab a set of dumbbells and sit on a stability ball or on the
end of a bench. Hold the dumbbells above your shoulders,
palms facing forward (the edge of the dumbbell should be just above the edge of your
shoulder at about ear level). Press the weights up and slightly inward until your arms
are fully extended. The weights should be close together, but not touching. Then follow
the same path as you lower the weights back to your shoulders.
Variations:
Neutral position: Palms in
(facing your ears)—easier on
the shoulder.
Also try alternating one at a
time: the single-arm version
can be helpful to those with
reduced shoulder flexibility as
well as adding additional core
and upper-body training.
Overhead “Y” Press:
This version can put greater demand on your core stabilization without adding high
loads.
Start as above, only have your palms in as in the neutral position. Press the weights up
and out slightly wider than your shoulders until your arms are fully extended; pause
briefly, then lower the weights, with control, following the same path.
36
Peninsula Life
Variations:
Try alternating by pressing up one arm at a time.
Port Townsend
Athletic Club
Dumbbell Seated Lateral Raise:
We offer:
• Racquetball/Wallyball
• Spa & Sauna
• Nautilus Machines
• Cardiovascular Equipment
• Free Weights
• Tanning Bed
• Yoga
Hold the weights at your sides, your arms nearly straight. Keep a slight bend in your
elbows, which you will want to maintain throughout the lift. With your thumbs facing
forward, raise your arms up and out, stopping when the weights are even with your
head. Pause briefly, then lower slowly back to your start point. Don’t let the weights rest
on your sides in between reps. Try alternating your arms to vary the demands on your
core stabilization.
• Aerobics
• NIA
• Pilates+
• Personal Training
Reverse Fly:
Downtown
229 Monroe St.
385-6560
Open:
Monday-Friday
5:30 am– 9:00 pm
Lying with your chest on a stability ball (or on a bench), hold your arms nearly straight,
elbows slightly bent and lifted ever-so-slightly off the ball. Lift up the dumbbells, feeling
your shoulder blades squeeze together but not elevate; pause, then lower with control,
stopping before your arms rest completely on the ball. If you are using a bench, stop
before the weights touch the floor.
Tip for success:
Look straight ahead and keep your glutes and core tight throughout the movement. w
Saturday
8:00 am– 6:00 pm
Sunday
9:00 am– 3:00 pm
Peninsula Life
37
Xinh’s
Clam & Oyster House
Chef Xinh Dwelley
by Pam Thompson
When I walked into Xinh’s Clam
and Oyster House in Shelton, I was in for
a feast as well as an interview. Our crew
was there preparing to take photographs of
Xinh, her kitchen and samples of a few of
her special shellfish recipes.
Xinh was in the kitchen lining up
a collection of sauté pans, preparing to
orchestrate a demonstration of her masterful cooking artistry. There were piles of
oysters, clams, mussels and geoduck on the
counter. Pre-blanched shellfish were ready
to sauté, and rice was in the oven. It smelled
fresh and zesty—like the beach—with an
aroma of fresh garlic, onions and ginger.
With an impressive display of coordination and rhythm, Xinh juggled several
pans heaped with a variety of fresh shellfish,
sautéing them to perfection. She presented
us with several dishes, each wonderfully
tasty and beautiful to behold.
Satiated with baked oysters, curried
mussels and sautéed Manila clams, we
visited with this charming woman and
learned how she came to create such exquisite cuisine in the small town of Shelton,
Washington.
Xinh was born and raised in South
Vietnam, in the tiny village of An Hoa,
near the city of Bien Hoa, roughly an hour
trip from Ho Chi Minh City—formerly
Saigon.
As a child, she witnessed the changing of the guard from the French Army, to
the United States Army, which was posted
near her home. The older generation was
leery of the American soldiers at first, as the
French soldiers had left a poor impression.
The children of Xinh’s generation, however,
enjoyed hanging around with and getting
to know the Americans.
Xinh and her peers were hired by
the U.S. Army to do odd jobs—such as
clearing brush for the location of the mess
tent—and basic domestic tasks. Eventually,
they worked in the kitchen, doing dishes,
bussing tables and learning to prepare food.
This was a relatively good job for a teenager
who, otherwise, was consigned to helping
on her family’s rice farm. Xinh took eagerly
to her tasks and discovered she had a knack
for putting meals together. Soon, she was
cooking for the whole battalion. She says
she learned to cook “American style” long
before she trained in her own native Vietnamese cooking techniques.
While she enjoyed having an unusual
and exceptional job, Xinh also experienced
the ever-present stress of being close to a
war-in-progress. The actual fighting did
not take place in her village, but the action
was only a few miles from her home. The
sounds of war sometimes reached them,
along with the constant noise of helicopters coming and going on errands with the
troops. A checkpoint staffed by Vietnamese
soldiers was supposed to prevent the infiltration of the Viet Cong into the village.
The V.C. were in their midst, however, and
it was not uncommon for two brothers in
a village to be on opposite sides of the conflict. Xinh remembers clearly the night that
the Viet Cong killed all of the soldiers at
the village checkpoint.
Xinh fell in love with and married an
American soldier. Shortly before the fall of
Saigon, she gave birth to the couple’s baby
boy. When Saigon toppled, Xinh left her
parents, grandparents, siblings and the rest
of her family behind to move with her husband to Olympia.
Twenty-five years later, Xinh returned
for the first time to visit her parents and
other relatives, including many she had
never met. She found that after living in
the U.S., though, sleeping on a bamboo
mat in severe heat and humidity was not
as easy as she remembered. To make her
visits more tolerable, she adapted parts of
her parent’s house to accommodate her
current lifestyle: air conditioning in the
bedroom, a new mattress on a Westernstyle bed, and a four-burner gas oven and
a refrigerator in the kitchen. When Xinh
returns to the U.S., however, the family
unplugs the refrigerator and her mother
goes back to collecting fuel and cooking
over a small fire. Now in her 80s, modern
things are more trouble to her mother than
they are worth.
Some of the flavors and cooking styles
that Xinh uses are Vietnamese in origin, but
she has adopted a “fusion” style that borrows ideas from many cultures. Her goal is
simply to prepare dishes that taste wonderful. “The Vietnamese never put parmesan
cheese on anything, but it tastes good, so I
42
Peninsula Life
use it sometimes,” she smiles, speaking of
mussels prepared Mediterranean-style in a
marinara sauce. I can vouch that good is an
understatement.
When she arrived in the U.S. as a
young wife and mother—and new immigrant—she found herself in a tiny logging
community on Steamboat Road, with a
new family, new culture and a new language to learn. Bored at
home, as most of the chores
were taken care of for her,
she signed up for English
classes at the community
college. She completed two
courses before deciding
that life was a bit too quiet
after being in charge of
cooking for a battalion of
soldiers and working on a
rice farm.
One day, on a whim,
Xinh applied for a job at a
shellfish company and was
hired to shuck oysters. The
first day, she was handed
an oyster knife and shown
how oysters are shucked.
She promptly stabbed
herself in the hand, and
injured herself pretty well.
Off to a slow start, she
shucked only one gallon of
oysters that day. As the pay
was based upon the quantity of oysters shucked, she
quickly decided to become efficient at it,
and challenged herself to greater levels of
performance. Eventually, she could shuck
up to eight gallons a day, which, if viewed
in the shell, would look like a small mountain of oysters.
A friend noticed her growing talent
and recommended that she enter the West
Coast Oyster Shucking Contest, sponsored
by the Skookum Rotary. She won the championship every year she entered. Displayed
on the wall in her restaurant are many
first place medals she earned for shucking
and also for the event’s cooking contest,
where she won the Best Main Dish and
Best Overall for her Mussel Curry Sauce.
Xinh also entered the Hood Canal Oyster
Stew Competition two years and won both
times. Retired from competition, she says,
“I am letting other people enjoy winning
now, I have done it many times!”
As she continued to work for what is
now Taylor’s Shellfish Farms, she took on
other job responsibilities. One of those was
quality control—examining shellfish to
determine the condition of the shells and
uniformity of size before they are shipped
to restaurants worldwide.
When her supervisors realized that
Xinh was an excellent cook who had many
innovative ideas for shellfish preparation,
she was asked to prepare meals for the
management team at Taylor’s headquarters.
Her cooking eventually became a platform
for marketing their shellfish: prospective
buyers who came to inspect Taylor’s wares
sampled the shellfish as prepared by Xinh,
right there at the plant. Eventually, she was
sent to Waikiki, Boston, Cleveland and
Pebble Beach, where international buyers
would gather to purchase shellfish.
Meanwhile, a little restaurant in
downtown Shelton named Café Luna
that specialized in Mediterranean-style
meals was about to go on the market. The
owners were interested in moving on and
approached Xinh about buying the restaurant. Although the idea appealed to her,
she was intimidated by the risk and responsibility involved in owning and running a
restaurant by herself. So she approached
her employers at Taylor’s to see if they were
interested in buying the restaurant for her
to operate. They were enthusiastic and
ventured the funds to remodel and start
up what is now Xinh’s Clam and Oyster
House on Railroad Avenue.
After just six months, Xinh had developed a large and enthusiastic clientele who,
on many nights, would line up around the
block waiting to get in. To increase dining
capacity, Taylor’s expanded the restaurant
from the initial site into what had been a
flower shop next door. Happy that Taylor’s
was so supportive of her project and that
she did not have the worry of the additional
overhead required for the expansion, Xinh
says she has an “ideal job.” She still works
for Taylor’s, although at her own downtown site, and still cooks for the potential
seafood buyers who come to town. Now,
though, she does it at the restaurant instead
of the plant.
Always the entrepreneur, Xinh sold
egg rolls at the Olympia Farmer’s Market
for awhile but, although she was successful,
she soon realized she needed to centralize
her operations at the restaurant. You’ll find
the egg rolls on the menu. They are incredible. She grinds the meat and makes sauces
from scratch. She sent me off after our
interview with a huge box of them, as she
didn’t want me to get hungry on my way
back home. And this was after a sumptuous
lunch.
On a civic note, Xinh is Shelton’s Business Woman of the Year. She says this was
largely due to her fundraising efforts with
the Sherwood Guild for Mason General
Hospital. For two consecutive evenings in
the spring, she hosts “Cooking with Xinh,”
a buffet dinner that includes a cooking
demonstration of two featured dishes and
recipe cards for the guests, who number 80
per night. Proceeds from ticket sales go to
support the acquisition of new and much
needed equipment for the hospital.
A writing career may also be on the
horizon as Xinh plans to compose a cookbook. She has developed and collected recipes from decades of cooking for Taylor’s,
the people of Shelton and visitors to the
Peninsula. While awaiting her cookbook,
though, you can stop by and experience
Xinh’s for yourself. She would just love to
cook for you! w
Cooking with
Chef Santschi
BAKED CHICKEN BOURSIN
4 ea. 6-ounce boneless, skinless
chicken breast
1 small eggplant
1 cup artichoke hearts (canned)
4 ounces boursin cheese (garlic and
fine herbs)
4 tablespoons pine nuts
2 cups baby spinach
To taste: salt and pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
Flour for coating
Prepare filling:
■
■
■
■
■
½ cup white wine
½ cup chicken stock
44
Peninsula Life
■
Slice eggplant 1/8” thick; salt
and place on paper towel for
approximately 20 minutes.
Pat dry and pan sear in skillet; set
aside.
Drain artichoke hearts and set aside.
Let cool, then place in food
processor and pulse a few times into
a puree.
In a bowl, mix together with boursin
cheese; make into a spread.
Preheat oven to 350° F.
Prepare chicken breast:
Spätzle
1.Remove small tendons from chicken
breast.
2. Butterfly.
3 eggs
3 fluid ounces milk
3 fluid ounces water
To taste: salt and white pepper
1½cups all purpose flour
5. Cook for a few minutes until wellblended.
2 ounces butter
½ cup heavy cream
To taste: nutmeg (freshly ground)
To taste: grated Parmesan
Combine the eggs, milk, water and
seasoning.
3. Pound with mallet between wax
paper.
Place in bowl of electric mixer and, on
lowest speed, slowly add the flour until
incorporated; then beat for 30 seconds
on medium speed.
In a 1-gallon pot, bring lightly salted
water to a boil.
1. Press dough through a pan with
holes into the boiling water.
4. Spread with boursin mixture.
5. Sprinkle with pine nuts that have
been lightly browned.
6. Top with fresh spinach leaves.
Assemble the Dish
1. Place spätzle in center of plate.
2. Arrange sliced chicken partially over
spätzle.
3. Drizzle pan sauce at bottom end of
chicken.
4.Garnish with broccolini and carrots.
Chef’s note:
2. When spätzle surface and come to
a boil, remove from water and place
in ice water to cool.
Pan sauce is made by reducing
half the wine and chicken stock
and adding drippings from the
roasting pan.
Broccolini are quick-steamed then
sautéed for 30 seconds in butter
with a splash of fresh lemon
juice.
The carrots are cooked al-dente,
then glazed in butter with orange
juice and a hint of grated ginger.
7.Roll tightly together.
8. Dust in seasoned flour.
9. Brown on all sides (seam side first).
Transfer to a baking sheet; add half of
the wine and chicken stock and bake
for approximately 20 minutes or until
done.
3. Bring cream to a boil, add butter
until melted, then add spätzle and
grate nutmeg as needed.
4.Grate fresh Parmesan.
The chicken breast is best
handled if, after rolling it, you
wrap it tight in plastic wrap
and refrigerate for 4 hours or
overnight before cooking.
After it is cooked, let it cool—it
will slice and hold its shape
better—then heat in the oven
with a little chicken stock for 10
minutes.
If you start with whole chicken,
you use the bones to make stock
and reserve remaining parts for
other uses.
Peninsula Life
45
vignette
William Clark
Will was photographing the
foggy morning. He was making
photographs for his acrylic
paintings.
Our post-fog, pre-coffee
conversation uncovered that
this Oregon transplant most
recently worked as a ranch hand
in Montana. “I’m good with
horses, but not cows.” His litany
of occupations captured me:
school teacher, artist, truck driver,
cowboy, oil refiner, construction
worker, filling station attendant,
library clerk, social services
clerk, hospital housekeeper,
deli cook, newspaper stringer,
dishwasher, house painter,
guitarist, bowling alley pin setter,
landscaper, photographer, water
carrier for carnival elephants,
raconteur (unpaid), poet/novelist
(unpublished) — and now, island
resident.
“I learned to say, ‘The Island’
very quickly as if it were the only
one in the Sound and have since
lived here as though it were. The
pure physical beauty enhanced
by northwest light stuns me.
Surround that with sail-studded
water and glimpses of the
snowcapped Olympics and it
becomes easy to see why so many
artists gravitate to the island.
46
Peninsula Life
“Living near the sand spit and
curious about the great number
of driftwood logs multiplying
themselves southward as I
hiked the shoreline at low tide,
I wondered if I could tightrope
all the way to Rolling Bay staying
balanced atop the old logs never
touching ground—Island old timers
have since told me they tried it as
kids with a different twist—To fall
from the logs meant stepping into
an adventure fraught with danger
beyond even sharks.
“This period in my life is the only
time I’ve ever lived on an island
and while it is more than a little
tempting to believe that what
happens off island will have little
or no effect on us and as our cities
continue to deteriorate we will be
immunized from those side effects
it should be common sense to all
that we should prepare as best we
can for difficult eventualities: Puget
Sound dead zones, oil prices, water
shortage, power outages and on
and on.
“Hot coffee and a scone make the
Blackbird Bakery one of my favorite
stops.” As we parted Will handed
me a marble saying, “The whole
world is loosing its marbles and
you’ll never know when you’ll need
another one.” He hopes to pass out
a million before he dies.
SCW
Find us at:
• Artisans on Taylor, Port Townsend
• The Farmers Market May – Oct.
Tim Lambert, Goldsmith
360-301-5751
Peninsula Life
47
LIFE STYLES
“Can we make a home out of this house…a home that invites and inspires?
Quintessential Island Home:
The extensive remodel at The Point White Overlook
House anchors meaningful family history, the owner’s
Alexander Calder 1966 watercolor…and the family dog.
Walls came down. Space was humanized. Use
optimized. Views opened up.
An Indonesian Phoenix was
added in the entry to memorialize this
major remodel.
48
Peninsula Life
I love the views. I love the privacy.”
The Point White Overlook House
by Steven C. Wilson
“I love what I do…it’s understanding life.
Peoples’ stories. People send messages
with words, with body language, with
their environment—I look and listen.”
Ann Jones-Wilson, designer and project
manager of the extensive remodel at The
Point White Overlook House gets excited
when she helps people discover what they
already know.
“ ‘I hate green’ a client said, ‘I can’t live
with green.’ I looked in the closets and
there was all this green. ‘I envision each
space to fit to the dynamics, the activities,
the treasures. Good design really does
change family dynamics.
“Create a space and they will come.”
with me their self-discovery of what
beauty, what intimacy, what playfulness
they want to invite—what can inspire.”
Materializing the guiding vision are the
materials and tools Ann orchestrates:
Furniture, wallpaper, paint, fabrics, art,
window treatments, light, space, the
building’s structural ‘bones’. Awareness
and knowledge of daily and seasonal
sky intensities underlay selection and
placement of artificial light. Memories
and imaginings couple with physical
realities conspire to create a comfortable
home—efficient, beautiful and
regenerative to body, mind and spirit.
Ann, using the phrase, “the generosity of
the universe,” talked about her extensive
experience: “When I moved to the island
and had two children, commuting didn’t
seem an option. In the ’70s few island
“Cheerful and
nurturing…Beauty
and comfort.”
In the office, cabinets were designed
to hide electronics, light and shadow
choregraphed quiet energies, mindful
that home offices are places of purpose.
This office and adjacent
powder room also moonlight
as guest room.
Ann continues, “Invite beauty. Looking
and listening encourage people to share
Peninsula Life
49
I began designing and overseeing
entire house projects. Soon I was
hiring the trades to materialize my
visions, well understanding the
perfectionist detail I ask of them:
How far can we stretch? What are
the challenges? My tradesmen and
women are artisans and we are
cooperators in timely, on budget,
mostly cheerful processes.
“From drawings to reality takes more
time than people expect. What they
see is torn up boards and mortar!
Client-designer trust carries these
days. I’m on the job site often for
input on the expected unexpecteds:
helping find the best solution for
a junction of tile and wood, or
suggesting an upright’s slight shift
to strengthen a design repetition.
Experience is invaluable for turning
these challenges into serendipitous
opportunities, with just a touch of
finesse.”
Plumbers, electricians, tile setters,
floor refinishers, carpenters, cabinet
makers, painters, wallpaper hangers,
systems people, window people and
carpet people… Squares and levels,
extension cords, compressor hoses…
Saws and nails, BANG BANG,
screws and hinges, dust and sprayers.
BANG BANG BANG, tangles and
smells and noise. Suddenly silence.
Tools and ladders are gone. Plastic
sheets and pickups are gone. Paint
cans are sorted and the last van
leaves.
“Even after removing the wall,
kitchen space will be small.” The
owner agreed. Kitchen space must be
optimized.
people sought out designers so I used
my background in design and sculpture
creating stained glass windows and
designing and installing tile. I spent time
in the trades. My last fling was installing
50
Peninsula Life
the hand-made Totten Tile in cartoonist
Gary Larson’s home. It was beautiful, a
whole room of pattern, color and texture.
“Times changed on the island – and for
me. Both kids finished graduate school.
Now sumptuous lighting
and beauty-enhanced
utility unifies kitchen to
dining area,
both backdropped by that classic
marine view…
In the living room…
an antique English foot stool, an Ironies
table, Kim Osgood’s monotype “Pleasure”:
Bold juxtapositions of unusual elements
each newly acquired to create a collection
expressing the owner’s personal history,
anchored by that Calder watercolor…and
accommodating the family dog.
In the family room…
windows frame nature — yard, garden
and salt water passage.
From the overlook balcony…
the vantage contrasts the semi-formal symmetry of the dining room with the color
spectrum randomly displayed by nature’s
daily and seasonal changes. Light defines
The Point White Overlook House.
Peninsula Life
51
A living room niche
with a Thai statue and Chinese embroideries is softly lit from a
candle in Jan Barboglio’s “Roses of Guadalupe.”
Shadows bring time and space onto the subtle hues and texture of
a carpet.
In the master bedroom…
sublime window treatments coax Impressionistic magic from
sunsets, storms, night skies — and tomorrow, the dawn.
52
Peninsula Life
An open stairway…
leads to cheerful magical bedrooms. Light
falls upon opulent pillows on sumptuous
fabrics. The spectrum changes with the
season. Favorite colors combine with
light from the changing sky colors. The
brilliant warms of summer slip into the
intensities of fall followed by those interminable days of gray overcast that define
our northwest winters. And northwest
winter itself seems composed of days with
more darkness than light…but you know,
“in winter we don’t get much help from the
sun” as any gardener or photographer will
tell you. So pattern and geometry take up
some “heavy lifting.”
The master bath’s…
eyebrow window is encored by the bed’s
headboard. The rectangular geometry
54
Peninsula Life
of the custom crafted vanity is softened
with a curve.
An exquisitely proportioned
chaise…
occupies a place where the slightest tilt of
the head moves one’s eyes from the outer
vista of saltwater passage inwardly to,
perhaps, a book, reflective musings or a
welcome intrusion…
Cheerful and purring.
“Hunter-gather the passions and dreams first,
then the things.”
Families and memories—treasures lovingly sheltered in beauty.
Need a home be more?
Peninsula Life
55
Project Work Sheet
…The Point White Overlook House
A Passion for Architectural Excellence
and Community
the Gallus-Rutz Village by
Ro
a n s k i Ar c h i t e c t s
360.379.5233
58
Peninsula Life
A Conversation with Chip Hanauer
by Jill Buhler
I
t’s so frustrating. You glance at a passerby, he looks familiar yet you can’t
quite place him. Just to be safe, in
case he is an acquaintance, you make
eye contact, smile and mumble a
greeting. He looks back at you with a blank
stare, nods and mumbles a polite response.
A few steps later, it hits you: Ohmygosh.
“That’s Chip Hanauer.”
You didn’t recognize him because he was
out of context. Darn; if his name had
come to you sooner, you would have taken
a closer look. But don’t worry; you’ll probably see him again soon, as he—and other
celebrities—have come to the Peninsula to
pursue a simpler lifestyle.
Chip Hanauer was irrefutably the
world’s greatest Unlimited Hydroplane
racer for more than a decade in the 1980s
and 90s. He holds a record 11 Gold Cups,
winning seven of them consecutively, and
earned 61 career wins, just one behind alltime leader and Chip’s mentor, Bill Muncey.
He was inducted into the Motorsports
Hall of Fame of America in 1995 and the
International Motorsports Hall of Fame in
2005.
Born in Seattle and now living parttime in Oak Bay, Chip knew from day
one he would be a racer. He thought
it would be cars; but growing up in the
Pacific Northwest in the 50s and 60s, boats
proved a more logical choice. He started
at 10 years old with outboard hydroplanes
and raced to fifth place nationally in his
age group in his first year of competition.
He quickly moved through inboard hydroplanes to unlimiteds, getting his first ride
in 1976 and his first win three years later
in the Squire Shop boat. He kept winning
for 20 more years. In 1991, Chip realized
his original dream and raced for Toyota.
He won at Portland, but a year later was
recruited back to boats by Budweiser. He
retired from racing in 1999.
In between, Chip graduated from has a casual manner and understated selfWashington State University, cum laude, confidence that make him quite charming
with a degree in Special Education; taught and easy to talk with:
special ed classes in Port Townsend; and
Peninsula Life: Tell us how your racworked with the Port Townsend High ing career began.
School Electric Car team, driving them
Chip Hanauer: I wanted to be a race
to two championships over competitors driver from day one. I have no idea where
such as Arizona and Southern California that seed came from. When I was 9, our
Universities.
family camped out in eastern Washington
Currently, Chip is an entrepreneur, and saw a race for small outboard boats.
a classical guitar player, a broadcaster for They had a class for kids and, of course, I
KIRO TV’s Seafair coverage, and a moti- had to do it. I started when I was 10.
vational speaker with lots of experience to
How did you get to Port Townsend?
draw on for his lectures. He has survived
When I graduated from high school, I
crashes and fought through depression to decided to get serious. Racing is like being
conquer a chronic illness. He’s never let a rodeo cowboy—it’s not a stable life. So
fame go to his head.
I went to Washington State for four years,
With a nearly perpetual grin on a came out with a degree in special education,
youthful face that belies his 52 years, Chip and was hired to teach in Port Townsend.
Peninsula Life
59
I had a classroom at Mountain View
for kids with disciplinary problems. I was
there for two years and really enjoyed it.
One afternoon, the office secretary
called on the school intercom and said:
“Chip, there’s a man with a suit, he drove
up in a Cadillac, he’s coming down to your
classroom!” Remember, Port Townsend
was a lot quieter than it is now.
The man was Bob Steil, who owned
the Squire Shop stores. He had a race team
and asked me to join. He said I could
always come back to teaching.
There was a little overlap between
teaching and racing. My first race was in
Miami in the spring. After the race, they
had a car waiting, drove me to the airport;
I got on the plane, then missed the ferry I
planned to catch. So I slept on the dock
and caught the first ferry in the morning. I
remember walking into my classroom after
spending the night on the dock and flying from Miami. Right then, I knew that I
couldn’t do them both.
How long were you with the Squire
Shop?
Two or three years. Then the greatest driver—Bill Muncey—was killed in
Mexico. His sponsor, Atlas Van Lines, and
the Muncey family decided to keep racing
in Bill’s memory. So they built a new boat
and I went to work for Bill’s widow, Fran.
It was probably the best year of racing I had. There was so much emotion on
the team after losing Bill. Nobody thought
we would do well, because the Budweiser
team had a new engine that nobody else
had. We ended up having a great year.
After about five years Fran sold the
team to Bill Bennett, the guy who started
Circus Circus Casinos. After Fran left, I
intended to retire but Mr. Bennett talked
me into staying.
It was a strange story. Mr. Bennett
had spent millions of dollars over 10 or 15
years, trying to win the championship, but
hadn’t. So I signed a 3-year deal to drive
for him, and we won the championship in
Las Vegas on the last heat of the year in the
second year of my contract. Of course, we
had this big party in the casino that night.
At 9:00 the next morning, I got a
phone call telling me to come to Mr. Ben60
Peninsula Life
nett’s office. I was a little hung-over after and decide how to move the equipment the
the party. When I got to Mr. Bennett’s 1,000 or so miles we had to go to get to the
office, they handed me a check for the fol- next city. There is a tremendous amount of
lowing year and told me he had quit racing. work that has to be done to the boat, even
That’s all he wanted to do—win the cham- after a good race, so we had to figure out
pionship. So he paid off my contract and where to do this work.
that was it. I was back in my hotel room
I had to be in the next town by Thurs15 minutes later, wondering what had hap- day. If we were back east, there was no
pened. Here we had this huge win and a point in flying back to Seattle, so I was on
big party, and now I’m unemployed!
the road with three days to kill.
Then you went into car racing?
I was usually so exhausted that I would
Toyota had been after me to race, but sleep for 36 hours. I would go to the MonI kept saying no. I had never raced cars, day meeting, eat something, then go to bed
professionally. But then I was out of work, and sleep through until the next morning.
so I said why not. I raced for Toyota for So Monday was a lost day. Tuesday, I’d fly
about a year.
to the next city, spend the next day resting
It was wonderful for a little kid who and on Thursday, the circuit started.
wanted to grow up to be a race driver. We
My friends thought I had this great
ended up winning, my fourth or fifth time life. I’d say, “Hey come spend a week with
out.
me.” After a week, they’d say, “This is horHow did you get back into boats?
rible!” And I’d tell them we had seven more
Budweiser called so I went back to weeks in a row like this. They realized that
hydroplanes.
it wasn’t what it seemed.
At that point I had become very ill. I
Sometimes we were on the road for 10
have a neurological disease called spasmod- weeks. On those trips, I would try to get
ic dysphonia. The only way I can speak to home to touch base once or twice. I was
you today is because I undergo a procedure taking care of my grandmother then.
every 90 days at the University of WashingAfter eight or 10 weeks, we’d come
ton that gives me good voice for about 60 back for races in the Tri-Cities and Seattle.
days and some voice for about 30 days.
I was home, but not really home. In fact, I
It was a difficult time. I had just signed hated the Washington races because when
with Budweiser and went through this hor- you’re on the road, it’s just you and the
rible ordeal where I was losing, and finally team. Every day, seven days a week, 24
did lose, my ability to speak. I didn’t know hours a day, you’re together as a group.
what was going on. I went to probably 30 There are no distractions. The minute you
doctors and nobody could tell me what get home, everyone gets pulled in different
was wrong I became horribly depressed; directions. We didn’t communicate as well.
it was the roughest time of my adult life. We kind of fell apart. On the road, we’d
I decided not to race anymore, because get our Mojo back again. Statistically, we
if you can’t talk, you can’t race. I couldn’t did quite a bit better on the road than we
even talk to my teammates, and that’s very did at home.
important because I have to describe what
What motivates you to race?
the boat’s doing.
It certainly is not the speed. It’s the
I had great success with Budweiser— intensity. And the team aspect. I’m playwe won a lot, but with my health and state ing classical guitar now and I equate racing
of mind, I had to get away from it. As it with that. They build this amazing, intriturned out, right after I left Budweiser, I cate, expensive, sophisticated instrument,
got diagnosed and started treatment and then hand it to you as the driver and say,
got at least partial use of my voice.
“Go do this job with it, but don’t hurt it!”
Life on the circuit was crazy. You’re on Which is an oxymoron, because here you
the road all the time. On Monday morning are out there with these guys who want
we’d sleep in because everyone’s exhausted. to kill you, but you’ve got to go out and
We’d meet in the hotel restaurant at noon deliver.
Is there a lot of competition with
I started race day with an abnormally
the other drivers?
high heart rate and it kept going up and up,
In car racing, when you’re on the track, the closer it got to race time. By the time
you literally try to knock the other guy into I stepped onto the dock to get into the
the wall. Do anything you have to do to boat, they thought I would have cardiac
win. But the minute you get back to the arrest. But the minute I sat down in the
hotel at night, everybody is in the restau- boat, my heart rate went down to that of
rant, drinking beer and laughing.
a guy walking. It stayed there for most of
The boats were never like that. Every- the race, but when I got out of the boat, it
one took it personally. There was polite- shot right back up.
ness, sometimes. And sometimes there
That surprised us all. I think that
were fights at the bar between teams. That when I was in the boat, I was concentrathostility added to the intensity. By nature, ing. I wasn’t worrying, I was focused. The
I’m not a combative person. But that envi- rapid heartbeat was the anticipation, the
ronment was pretty raw knuckles. I didn’t anxiety, thinking about it.
feel comfortable in an environment where
When I was in a race, I felt numb.
some guys would love to see you crash and When I would come back, the crew would
probably love to see you get hurt.
ask me what happened here or there, and
What did it feel like at the moment I didn’t know. You live totally in the presyou sat down in the seat to drive a race? ent.
It was a relief. A university in MichiYou had an accident.
gan did a study on me. A technician folI had a lot of accidents. It’s part of
lowed me around to record what I was the game. If you’re a linebacker in football,
doing through the day. I had on a heart you’re going to get your bell rung.
monitor to compare my heart rate to my
Was it hard to come back afteractivities.
wards?
No, I think that’s part of the intensity.
While the accident is in the process of happening, your only thoughts are, “How long
am I going to be out? How quick can I get
back in the boat? I hope the boat’s not too
damaged, that I’m not going to be hurt too
bad because I’ve got to race on Sunday.”
One of my worst accidents was in Seattle. I was in the back of the boat, trapped
underwater, but I was in the backup boat
75 minutes later, racing.
But I think that’s when you know it’s
time to leave—when that goes away and
you start thinking about being comfortable
and healthy; when other things in your life
become higher priorities than winning.
I was willing to pay any price to be a
racer and to win. But then that changed,
and I changed.
In racing, you can’t care about anything but winning if you’re going to do
well. Which is a pretty brutal way of looking at life.
What made it change?
Getting sick. It changed everything for
me; how I looked at racing, how I looked
Peninsula Life
61
balance. Racing became so important to
me, nothing else mattered. To some degree,
you have to be like that. I read Lance Armstrong’s first book (It’s Not about the Bike:
My Journey Back to Life) and he said the
same thing. People see the end result; they
see him winning the Tour de France, but
they don’t see the price he paid to do that.
During the Seafair hydroplane races, I
do an 8-hour broadcast with Steve Raible
for KIRO. It’s a long 8 hours, but it’s a lot
of fun. It’s back to that team feeling again.
Local television doesn’t do big productions
anymore. Only national TV does that. So
for KIRO, it’s a real undertaking and a real
source of pride.
at my life, my family, everything. In fact,
as bad as it was going through those three
years, it’s truly the best thing that ever happened. You get a perspective that, unfortunately, I don’t think you can get any other
way. I wouldn’t want to go through it again,
and I wish I could bottle whatever it is that
you learn from that, but the depression, the
illness that brought it on, the isolation, it
was horrible. When it’s suddenly gone, you
appreciate everything more.
When you look back, what are the
most defining moments?
It’s never about winning; it’s always the
funny things that happened in the hotels,
my relationship with the people. The wins
just allowed me to keep doing it longer.
The greatest joy I had was reciprocating the trust to the guys that build those
boats: coming back to the dock and getting
out of the cockpit and seeing the look on
the faces of the guys who had worked so
hard and given so much of themselves to
create this thing, and to reward them by
doing a good job. I raced for them more
than for myself or the sponsor—although
you don’t tell the sponsor that.
The worst scenario for me was blowing it for them. Knowing all the hours, all
the time they spend away from home, then
I go out in a relatively short period of time
and screw it up. The worst cases of that
62
Peninsula Life
I always wanted
to play classical
guitar, so at the age
of 49, I decided to
learn. I work pretty
hard at that.
were crashing. Monday morning, walking
out of the hotel and seeing this wreck on
the back of the truck, knowing what it was
going to take for those guys to fix it, how
much they’d put into it before that. That
was painful.
I also enjoy working on my property,
How did you get involved with Port and I ski. I go to Africa: I started a small
Townsend High School’s successful elec- business there. I do a lot of motorcycle
tric car program?
travel. I’m just having a second childhood,
Because of (the late) Jim Toyne. He doing all the things I enjoy.
was the most unique and amazing person
What kind of car do you drive?
I ever met. Not a day goes by that I don’t
You’d be horribly disappointed. I have
miss him. He was a friend from the days I a ’91 Buick Estate Wagon with fake wood
taught school here and we stayed friends on the side. It’s the world’s ugliest car.
all that time.
When my niece saw it the first time, she
When he started the electric car pro- said I should get a can of spray paint and
gram at the high school, he recruited me write “loser” on the side of it!
to drive. We did great; we won the chamI think people who only know me
pionship twice. We were up against schools from racing are surprised when they see my
from Southern California and Arizona, lifestyle. There’s a big difference between
and here’s little old Port Townsend doing who I am as a person and who I was as a
really well. The kids were great.
racer.
Jim was a shop teacher and a magnet
So life is good?
for kids who didn’t fit in everywhere else.
Life is better than good. It’s perfect.
These kids weren’t involved in sports, they That’s another thing that’s changed. In racweren’t at the top of the school social ladder, ing, life was only as good as my last result.
so they didn’t get a lot of attention. Then If I won the race, life was good for six days
all of a sudden they’re in the paper winning until the next race. That’s all that mattered.
two national championships.
If the next race went poorly and I screwed
What are you doing now?
up and disappointed the team, then life was
I do a lot of public speaking on find- horrible and not worth living. That’s all
ing balance in life. My life got way out of changed now. Whatever comes, comes. w
First, Inc.
Residential • Commercial • Land
Our outstanding agents are ready to serve all your Real Estate needs
Charlie Arthur Paula Clark
Broker
Chris Cray
Joe
Julie Ann
Daubenberger Daubenberger
Christian
Elbert
Rose Hare
Nick Harper
Denise
Hubbard
Marie Lyon Teren McLeod
Debbie
Marcus
Nancy Stelow
V I E W A L L N W M L S L I S T I N G S A T W W W . P O R T T O W N S E N D F I R S T. C O M .
2500 W. Sims Way, Suite 201
Port Townsend, WA 98368
www.remax.com
www.porttownsendfirst.
com
Ph: 360-385-6499
800-714-6499
Fax: 360-385-6495
Each office independently owned and operated
Peninsula Life
63
64
Peninsula Life
LEISURE & TRAVEL
The Olympic Peninsula’s Springtime
Winter Steelhead
by Doug Rose
T
he Olympic Peninsula is one of
the few places in North America
where the best freshwater fishing
occurs during winter and early
spring. Steelhead—ocean-going
rainbow trout that leave their natal rivers
as six inch juveniles and return as four to
30 pound adults—attract thousands of
anglers to coastal rivers and creeks between
Thanksgiving and Easter. Steelhead return
to brawling rain forest torrents like the
Hoh and Queets. They also return to the
boulder gardens and deep pools of the Sol
Duc and Calawah, and to snaggy, cedarstained creeks like Goodman and Cedar
creeks. And while many contemporary
anglers associate steelheading with the
large runs of hatchery fish in early winter,
wild Olympic Peninsula steelhead enter
fresh water well into spring
“ . . . gently dropping a “Professor” and
“Royal Coachman” beneath the shadow on
the rock opposite, in a trice I had struck a
fish,” James Christie wrote of a March fishing excursion on the upper Elwha, while
leading the first party of white explorers
across the Olympic Mountains in 1890. “A
fish which would fight, my first salmontrout (steelhead) on the Elwha . . . Then
followed one half hour of as fine fishing as
any I ever enjoyed on the thousand streams
I have had the pleasure of fishing in, carrying to camp fourteen splendid trout,
weight about forty pounds . . .”
The Elwha is now closed in spring,
but the larger West End rivers remain
open through March or April. You don’t
have as much of a chance of catching a fish
in spring as during the hatchery run, but
the fish and the conditions are much more
appealing. Wild winter steelhead are usu-
ally larger than hatchery fish, averaging 10
and 15 pounds, compared to 4- to 8-pound
hatchery fish. The rivers are also lower
and clearer—making it easier to fish, and
warming water temperatures stimulate the
metabolisms of fish—making them more
aggressive. Finally, the large crowds that
flock to the Peninsula during the hatchery
runs are but a memory in spring, when the
rivers are calmer and quieter.
The Quillayute System
Draining the largest watershed on the
north Olympic Peninsula, the Quillayute
System is the most productive wild winter
steelhead system in the Northwest. According to the Washington Department of Fish
and Wildlife, upwards of 15,000 wild fish
spawn in its major tributaries, the Sol Duc,
Bogachiel, Calawah and Dickey rivers. All
of the Quillayute tributaries remain open
through April, and the lower Sol Duc
and Quillayute are open to hatchery fish
through May. Because the Quillayute rivers rise up on peaks too low to support
glaciers, they are more reliably clear and
fishable than the glacially influenced rain
forest rivers.
Bank access is excellent on all of these
rivers, although anglers willing to hike and
explore will find more water than those who
look for roadside parks. On the Sol Duc,
the Salmon Hatchery at Sappho is productive, while the water along the Goodman
Mainline Road between the Quiluete Road
and the Mora Road, and the area near the
mouth are favored on the lower river. The
Bogachiel Rearing Pond in Forks and the
adjacent “ponds” on the lower Calawah are
the most popular spots on these rivers. The
Mina Smith Road provides access to the
Dickey, and Clallam County’s Quillayute
River Park opens an extensive reach of the
lower Quillayute.
Anglers with drift boats or rafts find
conveniently spaced boat ramps on all of
the rivers except the Dickey. However, the
upper Sol Duc and the entire Calawah
contain many drops, islands, and boulder patches, and only boat handlers with
considerable experience and, preferably,
local knowledge, should attempt them.
The Bogachiel is much more drift-boatfriendly, and launches are located at the
Highway 101 bridge south of Forks, at
the Bogachiel Rearing Pond, at the Wilson
ramp off the Mora Road, and Lyendecker
County Park at the confluence of the Sol
Duc and Bogachiel.
Rain Forest Rivers
Flowing through the world’s most magnificent temperate-zone rain forests, the
Hoh, Queets and Quinault rivers are characterized by wide snag-strewn flood plains,
immense log jams, and long gravel bars.
They go out of shape much more quickly
than the Quillayute Rivers, but their suspended glacial flour keep them productive
when other rivers are too low and clear.
Anglers tend to fish larger and brighter
lures and flies on the rain forest rivers.
The Oil City Road parallels the north
bank of the lower Hoh, providing access
to Cottonwood Campground and Barlows
Bar, while Highway 101 connects with
spurs to Allen’s Bar and Nolan Creek.
The Upper Hoh River Road extends from
Highway 101 to the Hoh Campground,
16 miles upstream. Wading anglers hike
in from Willoughby Creek and Minnie
Petersen campgrounds, Morgans Cross-
Peninsula Life
65
ing, and the six miles of catch-and-release
fly only water in Olympic National Park.
However, November storms washed out
several sections of the road in the park,
so anglers should contact the park before
heading to the Hoh.
The Queets River flows through
Olympic National Park from it headwaters to the Quinault Indian Reservation,
six miles upstream from the ocean. The
Queets River Road usually provides access
to the river and its three boat launches
from Highway 101 and the Queets Campground, 16 miles upriver. However, a
major washout at Matheny Creek last year,
approximately halfway to the campground,
currently restricts access to areas below
Matheny Creek. The only ramp in this area
is at Hartzell Creek, with a takeout at the
Clearwater River Bridge.
The Quinault River below Quinault
Lake is within the Quinault Indian Reservation, and anglers are required to obtain a
tribal guide to fish. The lower river is heavily planted and fish return well into spring;
anglers have as good a chance of taking a
steelhead here as anywhere on the Peninsula. The upper Quinault, the area between
the lake and the confluence of the north
and south forks, is open through April
15, and is accessible from the South Shore
Road. Because bank access is scarce here
and the river changes course frequently,
visiting anglers will do better and be safer
with a guide.
The Hoko
Steelheaders more comfortable on creeksized rivers are pretty much limited to one
Olympic Peninsula river in spring—the
Hoko. That’s because virtually all other
creeks and medium-sized rivers close at the
end of February. The largest river draining
into the western Strait of Juan de Fuca, the
Hoko also supports the Strait’s largest wild
run of winter fish. The water downstream
of the upper Hoko Bridge remains open to
angling through March 15, while the “fly
only” catch-and-release section above the
bridge is open through March. Most of the
fly water lies behind locked gates, however,
and only anglers willing to hike or bicycle
considerable distances should attempt it.
Spoons, Worms
and Flies
Steelhead
aren’t
anywhere near as
fussy about what
they will strike
as many anglers
believe.
“They
aren’t that hard to
catch if you know
where they are,”
said Port Angeles’
Don Kaas, who
has fished Olympic
Peninsula rivers for
more than a half
century. “I used to
sit on the Sol Duc
near Snyder Creek
and watch them
for hours. They
will pick up alder
cones and hemlock
cones and cigarette
butts. You don’t
need a $400 fly to
66
Peninsula Life
catch one.” However, most anglers now
release all wild fish, and artificial lures and
flies have better fish survival rates than
baits or plugs with large hooks.
The late Roy Bergstrom, who owned
Bergstrom’s Army and Navy sporting
goods in Port Townsend for decades, was
a passionate steelheader and showed many
younger anglers, including the author,
many of his favorite holes. Roy was a spoon
fishermen. “I brought the first WobbleRites and Daredevles out here,” he told
me. Spoons come in a variety of sizes and
shapes, but Roy favored the thicker models
such as Wobble-Rites and Little Cleos, and
he liked them in red and white, and brass.
Silver-plated spoons are also effective.
Many anglers also fish spinners during the
late season, and size 3 and 4 silver-plated,
brass and green are productive.
Recently, many Olympic Peninsula steelheaders have begun to fish plastic
worms. They are fished beneath a float,
which allows you to present the worm
precisely to small holding lies and to detect
soft strikes. On rivers with clearly-identifiable holding water, such as the Sol Duc and
Calawah, this makes worms very effective.
Hot pink is the traditional color for steelhead, but fish also hit black, red, purple
and other colors. Worms of five inches have
been standard, but some anglers have had
success with smaller worms.
Twenty-five years ago, you could
count the number of winter steelhead fly
fishers on the West End rivers on your
hands. That has changed dramatically, and
the main reason for it is the stride in fly
tackle. Although they have been around
since the 19th century, 12- to 16-foot
Spey rods are now common on West End
rivers. In addition to letting you cast as
much as 100 feet, Spey rods allow you to
execute roll and “Spey” casts when bluffs
and streamside vegetation prevent a traditional back cast. You can also mend and
present flies accurately at a distance with
a longer rod. Innovations in sink-tip fly
lines have also made it much easier to get a
fly down to the steelhead, and “multi-tip”
lines make it possible to carry a variety of
different lengths and densities of lines in a
small wallet. w
Reading the Water
As they move upriver to their spawning
grounds, steelhead rest and hold in
predictable areas, and anglers who
focus on the productive spots catch a
lot more fish. Basically, steelhead like
water between three and about 10 feet
deep, and they prefer moderate flows,
often described as about the speed you
walk. When you find water like that, look
for tail-outs, runs and pocket water.
Tailouts are the downstream ends of
pools, where the current quickens as
it becomes shallower. They are usually
best when the water is high.
Runs are of relatively uniform depth in the
main channel and have a flat surface.
Pocket water is broken with
emergent boulders and rocks.
On the glacial rivers, fish often hold in flats—
the low gradient stretches between rapids—
and off the mouths of tributary creeks. The
same boulder or tail-out will usually turn
out fish year after year on rivers with stable
in-river structure such as the Sol Duc and
Calawah, but more dynamic rivers like the
Queets and Hoh change after every flood
and anglers must relearn them regularly.
Tackle, Guides and Accommodations
Olympic Sporting Goods
(360-374-6330)—
Conventional gear and
tackle and proprietor
Bob Gooding is a wealth
of information on fish
and river conditions.
Forks Thriftway (360374-6161)—The
hardware store has
steelhead gear, and
food and supplies are
available in the grocery.
J. D. Love Guide Service
(360-327-3772)—A
very productive and
experienced drift boat
fly fishing guide.
Olympic Peninsula
Fly Fishing (360-4579033)—Hike-in fishing
on remote areas of the
Quillayute Rivers and
Hoh with Spey flies and
other local dressings.
Three Rivers Resort
(360-374-5300)—
Located near the Sol
Duc, Bogachiel and
Quillayute, Three Rivers
has cabins, RV sites,
a small store and café
and guide service.
Kalaloch Lodge (360962-2271)—On the
beach between the Hoh
and Queets. Cabins
and motel rooms, with
restaurant and store.
Lake Quinault lodge
(360-288-2362)—
Located on the lake, the
lodge has an excellent
restaurant and is
convenient to fish the
upper and lower river.
Waters West Fly Fishing
Outfitters (360-4170937)—The finest
selection of steelhead
fly tackle, flies and tying
materials in western
Washington. Proprietor
Dave Steinbaugh is
a veteran West End
fly fishing guide, and
guided trips are available
through the shop.
Washington
Department of Fish and
Wildlife—regulations,
harvest figures
http://wdfw.wa.gov/
Olympic National
Park (360-565-3130);
www.nps.gov/olym/
Peninsula Life
67
Westport Beachcombing
by the Numbers
One way to enjoy the Olympic Peninsula is to head out to the coast during
the beautifully volatile spring weather in
search of treasures from the sea. Along
Washington’s Pacific shore, all manner of
flotsam and jetsam are deposited onto the
sand by the turbulent currents and driving
winds that accompany storm fronts as they
pass through in patterns lasting from hours
to days.
The history of interesting beach debris
in Westport goes back at least to 1910
when a ship full of railroad ties headed for
South America lost its load and the timbers
washed onto the beach in Westport. From
that salvage, three homes were built, as well
as a hotel. The Tie House Hotel and two
of the three homes are no longer around,
succumbing to fire or rot, but one home
remains and is still used as a residence.
Occasionally, a cargo ship will lose
a container in rough seas. Over the years,
beachcombers have discovered unique
treasures like tennis shoes (16,000 per
container), hockey gloves (54,000 went
overboard in 1994 and started showing up
by Mike Coverdale
here 15 months later), Lego toys (4,756,940
in the drink in 1997) and thousands of
plastic bathtub ducks from Hong Kong lost
in 1992. If the ducks follow the predicted
drift patterns they could circumnavigate the
North Pole and end up along the British Isles
in a few years. That should surely qualify as
the worlds largest plastic duck derby!
Two things you can count on finding
at the beach in March and April are rain
and sunshine. The two often arrive within
minutes of each other, creating the most
dramatic landscapes imaginable along the
ocean’s edge. Proper attire is mandatory if
you want to spend much time enjoying the
invigorating atmosphere of a spring beach,
but when is that not true in Western Washington? Whether you are in the Olympic
Mountains, on Puget Sound or downtown
Seattle, our rapidly changing weather patterns are the reason that the “layered look”
originated here.
Back on the beach, with the passing
of each high tide, new patches of rock are
uncovered. These areas are the prime hunting ground for beach agates. Agates are small
to large rocks ranging from translucent to
clear, and varying in color. Red or yellow
are the most prevalent, with a few that are
clear white. It takes some time to become
adept at spotting these unique stones in the
midst of acres of rocks and shells, but once
you have discovered the proper technique,
your success rate will go way up. According
to local rock hound Vern Coverdale, if you
gaze across a rock patch in the direction of
the predominant light you are more likely
to spot the telltale glow of an agate peeking
out from around the solid colored stones.
Agates vary in size from smaller than a pea
to larger than a golf ball. Occasionally you
may find one bigger, and if you do, you
should consider yourself lucky!
Three months of the year are most
notable for beachcombing on Washington’s
coast. November is known for storm watching, but after a system moves through there
is great opportunity for discovering treasures left behind or exposed by the savage
currents, wind and waves. Temperatures
and temperament are more severe in the
winter, so it is the diehard beachcomber
White pelicans stand alert for the
unlucky fish which may sense shelter
in the quieter currents leeward of
their rocky perch.
Wave action leaves its textural
pattern upon this gently sloping
sandy shore.
Seaweeds’ dependence upon
sunlight is assured by distinctive
flotation bladders.
The sea anemone, a creature of
this coast, gets its green cast from
symbiotic green algae.
A twisty path memorializes a hermit
crab’s sandy journey.
68
Peninsula Life
70
Peninsula Life
you will meet trekking the sand in search
of the November storms’ bounty. Most
likely you will have the beach to yourself.
The months of March and April
present the greatest opportunity for
beachcombing success. Southwesterly
storm patterns move goodies trapped
in the offshore currents into the wave
zones, which. in turn, deliver them onto
the beach. Some of the most sought-after
treasures are the glass fishing floats that
typically originate in Japan. Although not
as common as they were in decades gone
by, glass balls can still be found following a
strong “sou-wester.” During a rare week in
April of 2004, hundreds of glass floats were
found on the beach at Westport, including
several of the rarest versions, the “rolling
pin.” To increase your chances of finding
a glass float, head for the high-water line
on the incoming tide following a storm.
Be aware of your surroundings and keep
an eye out for a “sneaker” wave if you want
to stay dry.
In addition to beachcombing, there
are many opportunities for tide pooling,
surf perch fishing or just surf watching.
Each week, hundreds of surfers take to the
water near the jetty in Westport to ride the
tremendous waves. These months are also
excellent for bird watching. A wide variety
of shorebirds return in the spring. If you
can’t find them on the beach, you only
have to go inland a short distance to Bottle
Beach or Bowerman Basin to see tens of
thousands of birds taking sanctuary during
their annual migratory adventure.
So if you’re feeling a little restless after
a long winter of inactivity and you want an
invigorating way to spend a day, layer up
and head out to the coast for a stroll along
the beach in Westport. What you discover
may be a lifelong passion for the sea. w
The camera has recorded a transient
moment of beauty. On a patch of
beach perhaps two feet by three feet,
tiny rivulets of surface water have
eroded land based grains of white sand.
Creating white sand patterns across a
black sand beach: patterns reminiscent
of a braided river, tree roots or the
underwater undulations of near-shore
kelp forests. The next high tide will erase
these patterns and the sand will become
homogenized—wiped clean like the
colored sands sprinkled onto a Navajo or
Tibetan sand painting.
Discover the beach less traveled…
Westport
800-377-0787
www.windermerewestport.com
Peninsula Life
71
The Golden Years of Golf
Or “What Hurts Today”
Q
uite possibly my favorite
quote of all time with
regards to life is, “If I knew
I was going to live this long
I would have taken better
care of myself.” Now as I approach my
56th birthday (and most of my customers
and friends are between 40 and 70), this
quote is becoming very relevant not only in
my life but also in my golf game.
Remember when you were growing
up and at age 15 you wanted to be 16 so
you could drive a car? At 20 you couldn’t
wait until your 21st birthday so you could
drink alcohol legally. Then for the next 30
years you were in denial, always lying about
your age; obviously one would err on the
younger side. Now all of a sudden I’m closing in on senior discounts. The shock of all
shocks is when, at age 49, you receive an
application from AARP! There’s always the
dread of turning 50.
How, you ask, does this pertain to
golf? Well, as a middle-aged (notice I didn’t
use the term “senior,” still in denial) golf
professional who has had some playing
72
Peninsula Life
success as a younger man, turning 50 was
like being reborn. I could choose to compete against golfers who were my same age
(or over). Think of the senior tour only on
a regional level.
Instantly, I was a contender again,
and for reasons that eluded me when I was
younger. I wanted to get into better condition. I actually started training. I wonder
what I could have done if I’d tried this 20
years ago. It was amazing. I got stronger,
lost 25 pounds, could walk 18 holes without total exhaustion and I hit the golf ball
farther and better than I did when I was
40. In fact, during my first season on the
50-plus tour, I managed to win a couple of
tournaments. Life was good.
For the next five years I continued
working out and my golf game remained
constant. I wasn’t winning all the time but
I was still in contention for the wins. Now,
I must be honest: my new-found conditioning and practice regiment wasn’t the
only reason for my success on the course.
Without a doubt (and this isn’t a commercial), the improvements in equipment and
by Mike Early
golf balls in the past 10 years have made
a very dramatic difference in all golfers’
abilities. In my case it was one particular
piece of equipment—the belly putter. All
golfers of a certain age, regardless of ability, have experienced the dreaded “yips.”
Without going into detail, the yips in golf
are almost life-threatening. Once I got over
the social stigma of using a “crutch” (AKA
belly putter), my whole outlook changed. I
didn’t have to be perfect with each drive or
second shot. I just knew if I could get it on
the green, then with my new-found magic
weapon, my nerves would be 15 years old
again.
Then, suddenly, came the start of the
“Golden Years” (age 55) and the magic
elixir of life hit the wall. Oh, I could still
put together a good round once in awhile,
but afterward my body felt like it had been
hit by a truck. I began to understand why
the older players were downing massive
quantities of Advil. I tried working out
harder, thinking it would delay the effects
of (gulp!) middle age. I was becoming my
father. A favorite saying has emerged dur-
ing practice and workout sessions: “Just
trying to stay even,” and I think I’m losing
the battle.
When I was younger I had many surgeries (four back, two shoulder and two
knee), but until I turned 55 ½ they were a
non-issue. Why, all of a sudden, does my
whole body hurt? I realize that at 55 I’m
just a rookie and many years still lie ahead
of me in these golden years. And that’s
what’s really got me worried.
The changes that are occurring
because of age have become almost hysterical. In golf, unlike other sports, these
changes occur much later in one’s career.
When I was younger, there was a group
of 10 to 15 guys (pros and amateurs) that
traveled, played and stayed together at
various golf tournaments. Back in “those”
days we would practice hard, play hard and
sometimes socialize hard. The conversation
always focused on the yearnings of young
men. We’d have a couple of drinks, hash
out the day’s golf and talk to—or about
(if you were single)—the young ladies. Yes,
life was good. We were invincible.
The reality of the arrival of the golden
years is starting to gain momentum. Now,
instead of teeing off around noon (because
of the late night before), we get to the
course around daybreak (because we all
wake up at the crack of dawn). We play
our round of golf, have lunch and get back
home in time for the afternoon nap. Our
conversations revolve around tales from
the past and medical breakthroughs that
either build false libidos or help with some
other failing bodily function.
These golden years are tough. I went
from carrying my own golf bag to using a
push cart, to using a power push cart, to the
ultimate symbol of senior golf, the power
riding cart. Now, don’t get me wrong,
the use of a power cart enables golfers to
continue enjoying this great game despite
physical handicaps and super senior status.
My problem is, as a “rookie” senior who is
still six years away from social security and
maybe retirement, I want to once again lie
about my age. I want to have the benefits
of being 62 at age 55, and, yes, I want to
enjoy the power cart golf for another 50
years. w
Michael D. Early is a PDA Director of
Golf on the Peninsula
Peninsula Life
73
LEISURE & TRAVEL
Resonant Golf
by Vincent M. Hagel
74
Peninsula Life
S
onorosity is a word coined by
a former Montana rancherturned-Methodist-minister.
It comes from “sonorous,” an
adjective describing a certain
quality of depth of tone. Some persons are
born with it, yet it still requires development through time, as does a rich baritone
or the soundboard of a fine guitar. Or even
a golf course rimmed by 200-year-old trees
and peopled with golfers who, through
devotion to the game and the course, have
created an artful experience for other golfers that is not to be found in those callow,
exciting new courses that have sprung up
like dandelions throughout the western
states during the past 15 years. One such
course can be found between Bremerton
and Silverdale at the Kitsap Golf and
Country Club.
In a nearly horizontal rainfall, I visited
this course, making my way around in a
cart. As I did, I thought about the years
required for a course to mature like this one
has, with fairways bordered by large cedars
and its wealth of golfing experiences that
many renovations and subtle makeovers
have created over 82 years.
I began my tour on the back nine,
where the original six holes were sculpted
out of the cottonwood and cedar bottomland in 1924, when Grant Hinkle was the
Washington State Secretary of State, Louis
Hart was the state’s governor, and Calvin
Coolidge was President of the United
States. The $600 Ford was the automobile
of choice for the average person dreaming
of mobility, and the 8-cylinder Duesenberg
won the Indy 500 and would soon be the
choicest vehicle of the American wealthy.
The founders of the Kitsap Golf and
Country Club amassed $2,700 to build
their six-hole course. (A metro couple who
buys two grande lattes each weekday, and
tips reasonably, will have spent $2,300 in
2006.)
In 1926, 81 members formed the nonprofit corporation called The Kitsap Golf
and Country Club, leaving room for 19
more members. In addition to the cost of
their original shares, the members assessed
themselves monthly dues of a whopping six
dollars for men and five dollars for women
Buzz Edmonds and Tim Kemp above the 18th Green
who wished to play the ancient Scottish
game.
Those early Scots could not have
imagined paying for golf, let alone driving a small cart off the tenth tee at Kitsap.
The tenth hole was not part of the original
course, though it affords a spectacular
entry to the back nine. The tee shot flies off
toward a horizon that falls away after a little
more than 200 yards. But it is the second
shot that grabs one’s attention—a steep hill
cascading like an enormous waterfall to a
small, circular green more than 100 feet
below, which requires a shot of good quality and a club selection of good judgment
to make your shot.
One can imagine the original members teeing their balls on tiny sand mounds
in their opening tournament on July 2,
1926—six holes of golf as we don’t know
it today. The winning score was 82, but
the name of the winner is not known, as
there is no record and none of the original
members is around to remember.
By 1932, when Wendell Arnold
became a member, the course had grown
to nine holes, and children could play for
one dollar per month. I did not meet Wendell Arnold, but he is still a member of the
club. In 1939—the middle of the Depression—the members added green fees to
support their golf professional’s salary of
$25 per month: fifty cents on weekdays
and seventy-five cents on Saturdays. The
Depression had its effect on everyone, and
I easily imagined the arguments among
members when they agreed to raise the
pro’s salary to $40.
Most of these stories are inscribed in
a history compiled by member Pat Brewitt
Peninsula Life
75
in 1991. Though I did not meet Pat, I did
meet Buzz Edmonds and Tim Kemp, who
gave life to some of the club’s memories.
Buzz joined the club in 1945 at the age of
fifteen, and Tim became a member when
his parents joined in 1948. They are both
men of understatement, however, so the
history must be assembled from bits and
pieces. Kitsap’s tournaments provide a
good example.
Buzz, for instance, likes to talk about
the golf course, the quality of play, the
variety of layouts the course has undergone—nine or ten since he became a member. His favorite tournament is the Kitsap
Open, which has run annually since 1954,
the year the course grew to 18 holes. At
one time it was the state’s best venue for
amateurs. Buzz and Tim both fondly recall
the barbequed salmon and steak served at
the Saturday night dinners, the dancing,
the slot machines and blackjack tables of
the ’50s, and the great times the players
and their guests enjoyed. But when asked
about how he played in those tournaments,
Buzz lowers his eyes and smiles as if to say:
“not too badly.”
76
Peninsula Life
I learned later that “not too badly”
means that he won the club championship
seven times in 15 years and he held the
course record of 64 for many years—one
person said he believed that someone
might have shot a 63 recently, but no one
present was certain. “Not too badly” also
meant that, in 1948, Buzz and another
junior member, Bob Jacobs, qualified for
the USGA National Junior Championship. The club underwrote their trip to
Ann Arbor, where they competed with
the nation’s best young golfers. No record
exists of their experience, except in their
own memories.
Understatement also applies to Pat
Brewitt, whose history mentions only in
passing that she was the 1957 Washington State Women’s Amateur Champion. I
found Pat’s win in a list of Club Women’s
Championships, of which she won seven.
Pat also held the course record for women
as of 1991, when her historical document
ended.
Other records at the Kitsap Golf and
Country Club include notable amateurs
who became professional golfers: Eddie
Draper, who won the 1954 Kitsap Open;
Kermit Zarley, who is still well-known on
the Champions’ Tour; Ron Coleman; and
George Bayer, who was a member before
turning pro.
Buzz also remembers playing golf with
Patti Berg and Carol Mann when they gave
a golf clinic at the course, but he missed
Byron Nelson, who gave a clinic at the
course in 1951, one of four years Buzz was
not a member, as he was traveling. By 1952,
the men’s monthly dues had risen to nine
dollars, the juniors to a dollar-twenty. The
club also added another category: widows
could play for four-fifty per month.
During WWII, the government confiscated land adjacent to the course to use
for ammunition storage; the area was the
right size, and a railroad line ran alongside.
Remember, the word “links” refers to unusable land, which is where many early golf
courses began, though most golf course
land today is very valuable. Eventually, the
ammunition storage facility and the railroad line disappeared, but the bridge over
which golfers drive as they enter the course
is the remnant of the railroad bridge of preWWII days.
Chico Creek, which rushes between
the 12th and 13th fairways, is also aging. It
was, and still is, a salmon-spawning stream,
and I could sense the faint odor of last fall’s
fish that had died after their journey from
the sea. “Just like everybody says,” Buzz
remembers, “in the ’40s, the fish were so
thick in the creek you could have walked
across them.” The water is wild in December, though, when the rains blow sideways
and the Kitsap Peninsula edges toward
floods.
By 1969, tournaments were in full
swing, membership was up and a new clubhouse was built with the largest banquet
facility in Bremerton. It hosts dances, weddings and a wide variety of social events—all
the trappings of a country club. But both
Buzz and Tim smile at the implication of
the exclusivity of country clubs. Theirs is a
golf club, and not exclusive.
However, the club is careful to limit
memberships to a number adequate
enough to maintain the course, while keeping it uncrowded so golfers can enjoy the
game, easy access, and a reasonable pace of
play—something that many public courses
cannot provide. Like many private clubs,
there are several types of memberships
available today, including memberships
with voting shares, as well as golfing, junior
executive and military memberships. The
easiest access for information is through
www.kitsapgolfcc.com.
Golf tournaments attract new members, though the primary purpose of many
of the club’s events is to raise money for
local charities such as the Salvation Army,
the cancer unit of Harrison Hospital, and
several cancer foundations. The club supports younger people through a tournament fundraiser for the Washington State
Junior Golf Association and by hosting a
high school cross country meet each year.
The women’s club holds several annual
events, and during the winter months the
men compete in The Winter Tour, a series
of Sunday tournaments that begin with
breakfast, and end—as most tournaments
do—at the nineteenth hole.
The clubhouse remains a beautiful facility, well-designed in 1969 to age
gracefully. Membership has changed over
the years, but for Buzz and Tim, it is
a club that has been a part of their lives
and remains a golfer’s club. Compared to
other clubs, it’s “the best golf deal around,”
Tim says, “considering the cost of golf, the
ease of getting a tee time, and the pace of
play. Besides, people, when they first see it,
think it looks like a pushover, but anyone
who plays here finds out in a hurry that it’s
not an easy course.”
That was clearly true, I had learned by
the time I pulled the cart up to the 18th
tee, one of the original six. It’s a long par
four whose fairway is barely 15 yards wide
with a steep hill on either side; it’s called
the canyon hole and is Kitsap’s signature
hole. Your drive needs to be perfect, as does
your long-iron second shot that snakes its
way up the canyon to a small green nestled
nearly 100 feet below the clubhouse. The
trees are imposing, and the greens are challengingly small, offering the oldest sport a
well-aged venue for every aficionado. If this
course could talk, its voice would certainly
be pleasingly sonorous. w
Golf Port Townsend
Open Year Round
PGA Director of Golf
Michael Early
Port Townsend Golf Club
1948 Blaine Street
Port Townsend WA 98368
360-385-4547
Peninsula Life
77
Entering Sequim on the highway from the east, a road
sign with flashing lights says, “ELK.” We always look, but they are never
there…and then one wintry morning, standing in a line atop the road cut,
there they were, patiently awaiting safe crossing. Reminding us yet again it
is a wonderful Peninsula we share.
78
Peninsula Life
“We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals. Remote from universal
nature, and living by complicated artifice, man in civilization surveys the creature through the glass of his
knowledge and sees thereby a feather magnified and the whole image in distortion. We patronize them for
their incompleteness, for their tragic fate of having taken form so far below ourselves. And therein we err,
and greatly err. For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours
they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living
by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught
with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendor and travail of the earth.”
From The Outermost House by Henry Beston
Peninsula Life
79
5SVNQFUFS4XBOT
"SDUJD5eSO
$PBTUBM'PSFTU
5VGXG9KNUQP2QUVGTU
&MXIB3JWFS
)VSSJDBOF3JEHF
7JOF.BQMF
4UFWF8JMTPO1PTUFSTwYw
BWBJMBCMFGPS
0OMJOFBUXXXQFOJOTVMBMJGFCJ[
7JTBBOE .BTUFSDBSEBDDFQUFE
80
Peninsula Life
$BMM
.BJM0SEFSTXJUIDIFDLUP
1FOJOTVMB-JGF.BHB[JOF
10#PY
1PSU5PXOTFOE8"
readers’ page
“Lots of Backseat Driving”
I wanted to see some of
the world’s different economic
levels. Bainbridge Island is
pretty mono-ed…I mean
you don’t meet too many
people that are different from
“Bainbridge Islanders.”
Born and raised on
Bainbridge and not too
excited about college after
returning from a GREAT
Bristol Bay salmon season,
Nick and I (best friends since
we were 3) planned travel:
Arrive Heathrow 9 September.
Return from Bali 1 January—
in between all options open.
Going down the street.
Everyone watching the road.
Searching for a restaurant in
Lake Bratan, Bali, “cheap,
always cheap,” with good
avocado juice (a blendy mix
dribbled with chocolate
syrup). Raining hard. Lots
of backseat driving. Always
motorcycles. Always big
trucks. Horns blowing.
A different sense of space
—inches not feet.
It takes a lot of subtlety to
keep this chaos organized, but
isn’t that true of life—and the
world?
Kevin Wilson
Whitman College
Next year I go to Kenya
to study Swahili language/
culture following this year of
anthropology at Walla Walla.
Peninsula Life
81
Money
Does long-term care insurance
make sense for you?
by Craig Wallin
Since most of us would find those
numbers hard to fit in the average household budget, it makes sense to look at alternatives to help cover the cost. Although a
growing minority of retirees are opting to
move to a country where medical costs
are much more affordable, most of us will
want to consider a more practical alternative—long-term care insurance.
W
ith over 70 million baby
boomers approaching
retirement age, the realities of aging are starting to hit home. One
of those realities hit very close to home
recently when a neighbor, well into his
boomer years, slipped on an icy driveway
and broke his hip. First came the hospital
visit for repairs, then an extended stay at
a nursing home to recover before finally
being able to return home.
82
Peninsula Life
The cost of extended care is not inexpensive and, according to the experts, will
be increasing twice as fast as inflation every
year for the foreseeable future. The average
daily cost of nursing home care in western
Washington is over $200 a day, or $74,000
yearly. With a 5-6 percent increase every
year, today’s 60-year-old could be facing
nursing home costs of over $500 per day,
or $182,000 annually, in 20 years when
they’re most likely to require extended
care.
What is long-term care insurance?
If you are unable to care for yourself
due to an extended illness, injury or disability, long-term care (LTC) insurance
can provide help for “activities of daily
living,” such as bathing, dressing, walking
or eating. You can receive help in a variety
of places, including your own home, an
assisted living facility or a nursing home.
Long-term care insurance typically covers expenses not covered by health
insurance, HMOs, Medicare or Medicaid. While most folks think Medicare or
Medicaid will pay for their long-term care,
that’s a dangerous assumption, unless you
have limited assets.
Medicare will pay only for “skilled
nursing care.” To qualify, one has to have
been hospitalized for at least three days
prior to transferring to a nursing home.
Once you’re in, Medicare only covers the
costs for the first 20 days. From day 21
through day 100, you’ll be expected to
pay $114 a day for your own care. On the
101st day, you’ll be expected to pay for all
your own costs, unless you can qualify for
Medicaid, a medical welfare program.
It’s also important to note that Medicare does not pay for custodial care, such
as help with getting around, bathing, eating or dressing, or supervision because of
dementia or Alzheimer’s. Medicaid may pay
for custodial care, in-home care or assisted
living, but it requires that a person’s assets
and income be spent down first. Because
Medicaid only pays a discounted rate, not
all nursing homes or other facilities will
accept Medicaid patients, or may limit the
number of Medicaid patients.
Do you need long-term care insurance?
Long-term care insurance is not for
everyone, and even if you purchase a
policy, you may not need it for 20 or 30
years.
Most financial advisors agree that
long-term care insurance makes sense if:
n You have a medical condition or family history of illness that you and your
doctor believe could require nursing home
care.
n Your assets are between $200,000
and $1.5 million, and you want to protect
them for a spouse or children.
n You have no family members available to take care of you.
Long-term care insurance does not make
sense if:
n You can’t afford the premiums for
a decent policy. According to insurance
industry statistics, as many as 50 percent
of long-term insurance policyholders let
their policies lapse. A good rule of thumb
to remember is that you shouldn’t spend
more than 5 percent of your income on
long-term care insurance.
n Your assets are over $1.5 million.
You can afford to pay for your own care.
With an average nursing home stay of 30
months, your cost will likely be less than
$200,000—expensive, but not devastating.
While an insurance agent may try
to convince you to buy a long-term care
policy when you’re in your 40s and 50s,
most experts agree it makes more sense to
wait until you’re 60 and above, unless you
have a chronic disease. Less than 1 percent
of those under 65 require nursing home
care. Between ages 65 and 74, that climbs
to just above 1 percent. From 74 to 85, 4
percent require nursing home care, rising
to 19 percent for those over 85.
But don’t wait too long to purchase a
policy. According to industry statistics, one
out of four 65-year-olds fails the physical
exam, and that climbs to one out of three
by age 75.
Here are things to look for in a policy:
n Pick a “benefit period” that makes
sense. Aside from those with truly longterm challenges, such as Alzheimer’s, the
average time spent in a nursing home for
those over 65 is 2½ years. So choosing a
three or four year benefit period can give
you adequate coverage without raising the
premiums too high.
n Choose a daily benefit amount that
matches local costs. The daily benefit
amount is the maximum amount that the
insurer will pay for your care in a nursing
home or other care facility. The average
cost in the Puget Sound region is $218 per
day, a bargain compared to Anchorage,
Alaska at $578, but expensive compared
to Mississippi at $122 a day.
n Given a choice, most folks would
prefer to be cared for in their own homes.
One way to insure that’s possible is to
choose a benefit amount for home care
at 80 to 100 percent of the nursing home
benefit amount. Home health care is not
cheap—with the average cost of a home
health care aide in our state at over $20 an
hour, or $160 for a day.
n One of the best ways to keep the cost
of LTC insurance premiums reasonable is
to opt for a waiting period of 60 or 90 days
after entering a care facility before benefits
begin. The longer the waiting period, the
lower the premium. But don’t choose a
long waiting period if you can’t cover the
cost of care during that period from your
savings.
n To collect benefits from a long-term
care policy, a person must be unable to
handle two or three “activities of daily
living” (ADLs), such as bathing, eating,
dressing, getting in and out of bed, and
using the toilet. The best policies only
require two ADLs, rather than three.
Also, be sure bathing is on your policy’s
list of ADLs, as it’s typically one of the first
activities that require assistance.
n Make sure your insurer will be around
when you need it. Most of the insurance
companies offering long-term care insur-
ance are large, reputable firms, but there
are always a few exceptions. If a company
has financial problems, you could lose
your coverage. Since you may not need
benefits for 20 or more years, be sure to
choose an insurer that gets high financial
safety marks from insurance rating companies. You can get free ratings online
from www.ambest.com, www.moodys.
com, and www.standardandpoors.com.
In addition, most local insurance agents
who handle multiple insurers can supply
ratings, as well.
n Nursing care costs have been rising
faster than overall inflation in the past
few years, a trend industry experts believe
will likely continue. Consider including
inflation protection to ensure that your
benefits keep pace with inflation. If you
have a choice, the 5 percent compounded
option has a better chance of keeping up
with inflation than the 5 percent simple
option.
n Many employers, including the federal government, offer group long-term
care insurance that may cost less than an
individual policy. In addition, you may be
able to pay the premiums with pre-tax dollars for further savings. Before signing on,
make sure the policy meets your needs, just
as you would with an individual policy. w
❀
Further reading
The Washington State Insurance
Commission has several helpful booklets, worksheets, comparison charts
and a list of all insurance companies
licensed to sell long-term care policies
in our state. For internet access, go to
www.insurance.wa.gov, and click on
“long-term care” on the home page
menu. That will display a list of all the
downloadable information available.
If you prefer a printed copy, just call
the Insurance Consumer’s Hotline at
1-800-562-6900.
Craig Wallin is author of Headstart to
Wealth…Turn Kids into Millionaires with
Only Two Dollars a Day. Learn more at:
www.headstarttowealth.com
Peninsula Life
83
Converting Wealth to Income:
The Importance of Creating
a Comprehensive Retirement Plan
by Scott D. Hill
S
aving for retirement is a priority for many, but no matter how
much you’re saving, chances
are you haven’t thought about
the broad range of factors that
could affect your ability to make those savings last through your retirement years.
As the first of the baby boomers
officially become eligible for retirement
this year, there is potential for strain on
the health care and Social Security systems, as well as the investment landscape.
Gooding & O’Hara, PS
Certified
Public Accountants
360-385-1040
Fax 360-385-3799
aldryth@pttaxcpa.com
84
Peninsula Life
Therefore, it is increasingly important for
individuals to not only have a plan in place
to continue accumulating wealth, but also
one for generating a steady income stream
that they can live from during retirement.
While retirement may seem far off for
many, it’s important to keep in mind that
more and more people are retiring early.
And with increasing life expectancies,
individuals will need to make their money
last even longer.
Underestimating your longevity is
just one way to exhaust savings during
retirement. However, to develop a realistic
retirement income plan, you will need to
think about other factors as well. First,
what will your sources of income be during
retirement? In other words, where will your
“paycheck” come from? Chances are there
will be more than one source of income,
such as pensions, Social Security, investments, and earned income if you decide to
continue working.
Once you’ve determined where your
money will be coming from, you also need
to look at how you want to live during
retirement. Lifestyle choices will greatly
affect your retirement income needs.
Maybe you want to travel, or pursue a
hobby. Maybe it’s been your dream to help
finance your grandchild’s education. You
might even be surprised to find out that
your income needs can actually increase
during retirement rather than decrease.
Your retirement income needs will
probably require you to withdraw a certain
percentage of your savings and investments
each year. If you withdraw a high percentage, you might deplete your retirement
assets sooner than expected. Additionally,
you will want to work with your tax advi-
sor to make sure you’re applying the most
tax-efficient sequence of withdrawals from
your 401(k), IRA and other investment
accounts.
Inflation should also be considered as
you look ahead to your retirement income
needs. Even a relatively mild annual inflation rate can erode purchasing power. For
example, at an inflation rate of three percent, the $100,000 you have today will be
worth only $55,368 in 20 years—a loss of
45 percent in value.
Taking these factors into consideration will greatly increase your success
in developing a realistic retirement plan.
Whether retirement is in your immediate
future or is still five, 10 or 15 years away,
it’s never too late—or too soon—to lay the
foundation for an income plan that will
see you through retirement. Talk with your
financial consultant about building a plan
that will help you convert your wealth into
the retirement income you’ll need to live
comfortably in your golden years. w
This article is provided by Scott D.
Hill, a first vice president and financial consultant at RBC Dain Rauscher in Seattle,
Washington, and was prepared by or in
cooperation with RBC Dain Rauscher. A
graduate of the University of Washington,
Scott is a certified investment management
analyst and accredited wealth manager who
grew up on the Olympic Peninsula. The
information included in this article is not
intended to be used as the primary basis for
making investment decisions nor should it
be construed as a recommendation to buy or
sell any specific security. RBC Dain Rauscher
does not endorse this organization or publication. Consult your investment professional
for additional information and guidance.
RBC Dain Rauscher does not provide
tax or legal advice.
Perspectives
Happy Birthday.
Or is it?
I
recently shared a phone call with
a dear friend who reluctantly
divulged—with a definite change
in the tone of her voice—that her
birthday was days away and that
she might take that day off to stay in bed
with her head under the covers. She might
have been exaggerating, but I clearly heard
sadness and angst in her remark. In her, I
heard the voice of many who resist aging
and hold regret about a day that should
be celebrated with joy. My birthday is just
around the corner, so I have been giving it
considerable thought.
The truth is, no one gets out alive! We
all eventually decline. It is the process of life
and, no matter what we do, life and death
are the things that we share in common with
every other person walking the face of the
earth. We all are born, we all age, and we all
die. Period.
What matters is not what we do along
the way, but the grace with which we handle
by Rhonda Hull
it. Why waste our precious time trying to
change the inevitable? Instead, focus on the
wonders that are possible right here and now
and make each moment memorable.
Our culture’s definition of aging has
been hard on us, particularly women. Media
and advertising bombard us with unrealistic
expectations and myths about what our
bodies are supposed to do and to look like
in order to be appealing, accepted, and even
lovable. How sad that we are dominated by
this myth rather than being free to enjoy the
process of change while accepting that there
is beauty and joy to be experienced with
each milestone.
Don’t get me wrong. It would be wonderful if my body today had the energy and
maneuverability that it did when I was in
my 20s and 30s. I certainly wish I didn’t
ache or wasn’t stiff when I get out of bed in
the morning. Still and all, the degree of our
joy is measured by where we choose to place
our focus.
Life is a journey, and I savor the perspective I have now that I didn’t have when
my body was agile. It is only through these
mature eyes that I can fully marvel at the
smooth hands of my grandbabies cradled
in my hands—with all their wrinkles, veins
and age spots. In each line is a story. The
mystery of life continues. Why miss the
moment before us by being transfixed by a
past we cannot return to or change?
We are not meant to be today who
we were a decade or two ago, or even yesterday. This moment—right now—has
transitioned to another before I even finish
this sentence. Such is the nature of life. It
unfolds. Each day and every new moment
brings added experience and new opportunities that create the patina of wisdom. If I
hang on too tight or resist the unknown, it
comes anyway. Like it or not, holding on to
what I think life should be, or what it was,
only causes me to miss out on the joy that
comes with the present
Without understanding and embracing the journey of life that includes aging
and, eventually, death, we habitually fight
the process to the point that we forget there
is an alternative called “now.” Have you
noticed that resisting age does not prevent
us from growing older? As a matter of fact, it
wears us out even faster and drains us of the
authentic life force that allows us to drink in
life’s simple pleasures.
We are blinded by our culture’s marketing program and have come to believe that
happiness must be bought, or defined by
what we wear, or dictated by how we look.
The list goes on and on. We fail to notice our
true worth, fail to value the simple joys, and
we allow our innate magic to be shrouded
by our manufactured false shortcomings
and self-criticism.
It’s a trap. Such fears create the very
worry lines we run from and pave the way to
poor health and a rut of depression. Authentic happiness expands by living in the present moment, rich with gratitude for what
we have right now. Feeling valued, sharing
our gifts generously and staying connected
through unconditional love is the best antiaging cream formula we can apply.
Creating a life of joy is an inside job.
Controlling life and its aging process is an
Peninsula Life
85
illusion. Life flows and has its own rhythm,
with new insights at each stage and phase.
That doesn’t mean that we are not called to
honor and care for our body along the way.
Self-care and building a foundation of security are forms of self-love that contribute
to happy living and are accessible, but not
dependent upon the shape of our body, our
health, what we own or our bank account.
We can best love another when we dare to
love our self, first, and teach others how to
love us by how we treat our self.
Vintage cars grow in value over time.
They hold their value when they are cared
for, but regardless of their pampering, they
wear out, demand more attention to run
smoothly, and eventually just stop! My dad,
who was a car guy, always said, “Rust never
sleeps!”
We eventually wear around the edges,
too. But, our journey of aging holds the history of our legacy and gives meaning to the
memories we create along the way. Our life
is ours to live, to learn, to love. We leave a
meaningful mark by living with grace and
gratitude, forgiveness and love, not only
for others but also for our self. The imprint
we leave is authentic and lasting when we
embrace and appreciate the magnificence
of who we were, who we are now, and who
we are evolving to become. We change and
age, but our shining essence doesn’t. It gets
added to this incredible brew we call life,
and this common and creative energy is
whole and ageless.
Breathe. Be still for just a moment and
consider how your life would be different if
you got up each day and said, “Good morning, God,” rather than, “Good God, it’s
morning,” even on your birthday. Especially
on your birthday!
My life’s experiences have blessed me
with the profound opportunity to be present
at the magical moment of first breath—the
birth of each of my three grandsons. With
the passing of my mother, I had the treasured
opportunity to be at that solemn moment of
last breath. The power and perfection offered
by these first and last moments of life are the
same in a way that is beyond description,
and offer us a glimpse of all that is beyond
our understanding. A birthday calls for celebration and is a reminder for us to get on
86
Peninsula Life
with life, and get on with living it fully. Life
is too short not to!
For all of you who discount your value
when story lines adorn your face, when your
body reshapes itself, and your knees sound
like popcorn when ascending the stairs, I
invite you to instead welcome it as a signal
of a life well lived as best you know how,
and to celebrate your birthday even more
boldly. Let the number of years spent here
roll off your tongue with ease and honor.
Wear your wrinkles like jewelry awarded
to you for your many contributions to the
circle of life.
With the turning of another year,
appreciate yourself for more than one day.
Let the song of your life linger on your lips.
Celebrate the entire journey of your life.
Savor all the highs and lows. Toast the rough
spots along the way.
You have touched more lives than you
can ever imagine, in big and simple ways.
You make a meaningful difference with
every random act of kindness and every
smile you offer. We forget this, but it’s true.
One of your casual smiles will land on someone at just the right moment, inspiring him
or her to travel a bit more smoothly on their
path without you even being aware of it.
I guarantee that without even knowing it,
you have changed someone’s life for the better. All of this while you were busy worrying
about a few gray hairs and an arbitrary day
on the calendar.
So, imagine what would happen if we
all truly valued the wisdom that comes with
age. Who would we be if we honored the
elder that we are becoming? How might
life be different if we let go of our fear and
open fully to the stages and phases of life,
accepting ourselves, warts and all? Let the
dissatisfaction you feel in your gut as you
repel the thought of aging be the very nudge
you need to ask yourself, “What am I called
to do and who am I called to be in order to
fully live, right here, and right now?”
This moment is yours. The choice is
yours. Happy birthday. Happy birthday to
you. w
Rhonda Hull, Ph.D.
is a professional speaker, mentor, and author of
Drive Yourself Happy: A Motor-vational Maintenance Manual for Maneuvering Through Life.
www.detourfromstress.com
vignette
Kirk Wachendorf
“My people have lived in this
village for 4,000 years.”
Wow…what a swat of reality. I
consider myself sort of a longtime Peninsalite…the pre-Agate
Pass Bridge days, the preWashington State ferry days. We
took our kids camping at Rialto
Beach before it was “Park”! I’ve
hung my rain gear for more than
a half century on the west side of
the Sound but Kirk Wachendorf’s
words untwisted my perspective.
We stood in a softly lit corner
of the Makah Museum at Neah
Bay, in a light that would have
filtered through a centuries old
cedar forest during the times Kirk
Wachendorf talked about. Kirk
is an ‘Interpretive Specialist’. He
helps interpret “the past that
the earth has preserved”. He
talks of the unknown Makah
artist, or artists, who incised
the wedding rock petroglyphs
at Ozette Village. His stories
speak to his cultural past and
acknowledge with obvious
appreciation his ancestry.
He speaks of skills crafting
canoes, bent wood boxes,
baskets and, post-European
influence, the totem pole.
He speaks with pride, sadness
and bafflement. “Why are
American people treated like
mushrooms – kept in the
dark and fed nothing?” It
is a questioning we may all
find within ourselves.
SCW
Spring
Cleaning:
More than Just Dust
by Carol Wiseman
S
pring cleaning was a ritual our
grandmothers went through
every year. Of course, that
was when the home belonged
to the “little woman,” when
she was home 24/7 and was expected to
do everything herself. No housekeeper to
hire, no husband to help, and no choice as
to whether she even wanted to do it.
Even though the homemaking pressure has diminished for me over the years,
I still love that feeling of clean. Maybe it’s
a primal instinct to ready our nest or…
maybe we’re just too busy the rest of the
year to notice how busy spiders have been
building their homes in our homes. Either
way, eventually most of us feel the need to
freshen up.
Seeing the crocus push up is an annual
reminder that the earth is coming alive,
and so can we. The blooms signal you to
start moving your mood beyond gray days.
When I lived in the woods, the wildflower
“shooting star” was my reminder that the
coming sunshine would soon be showing
up on my dirty windows.
Ancient cultures celebrated New Year’s
Day on April 1, but Europeans adopted a
new calendar in 1582 which began the year
on January 1. This change is one of the
many explanations for April Fools’ Day:
many people refused to accept the change
and were made fun of by being sent on
“fool’s errands.”
Long ago, I discarded January 1 as
the start of the new year and switched to
spring. I love the idea of starting the year
on April Fools’ Day. Laughter is a good
beginning for anything and everything.
After years of maintaining an annual cleaning ritual, I discovered that having a cleaner
house never really changed my life in any
meaningful way. Consequently, I challenge
you to expand the idea this year and spring
clean all your senses into action, including
the full array of your being: emotional,
social, mental, spiritual and physical. To
help push you in the right direction, I offer
up some gentle suggestions.
Starting with dust is the easiest—
reminders can be written right on top of a
forgotten end table—but going beyond the
dirt and hand prints will go a long way in
livening up your nest. Consider painting a
room or maybe just a wall. Rearrange some
artwork. Repair a drippy faucet. Move a
chair from here to there, pick up flowers
for your table, add an inviting plant on the
porch to welcome you in every day. And,
coddle your car. Wash, vacuum, and lube
it, because it can turn on you at the most
inconvenient times.
When your house is Martha Stewartready, move on to your body. Stop trying to
find a parking place so close to every store.
Parking farther away on purpose gives you
more walking time. Get your cholesterol
checked and teeth cleaned. Drink one more
glass of water every day, work more broccoli
into your meals, and go to bed earlier. I’m a
bona fide “get more rest” crusader because
I’ve noticed that a problem perceived as a
big deal the night before often seems trivial
after a good night’s sleep. Maybe you could
even consider a new hairstyle this year.
As a migraine sufferer, I once tried a
water cure out of desperation and it worked.
Headaches don’t last as long since I started
flushing those imaginary headache demons
out of my system faster. And as I write this
article, a new experiment is in the works:
with a water bottle on the table beside me,
I’m flooding my brain with lubrication in
an attempt to plump up my creative juices.
In other words, I’m trying to get smarter
with water.
Many people come into your life over
the years. Some become friends, but others
you may keep up with only out of obligation, habit or loyalty. Think about evaluating which is which, and gradually letting
go of those who constantly bring you
down. Moods rub off, and it’s hard enough
to cope with your own moods, much less
someone else’s. Spending more of your
time with those who uplift instead of drain
you will help you maintain a more positive
outlook. Inject your social life with new
activities. Find an organization of interest,
ask someone new over for a glass of wine,
or call someone you haven’t seen lately.
The mental piece of the puzzle is
harder to remember. Imagine having to
exercise your brain on purpose. Doesn’t
this happen by itself? Well, what does
happen automatically in a busy life is a
tidal wave of daily obligations. Thinking
time is squeezed out and brain activity
diminishes, until cobwebs aren’t just in the
corners of your home anymore.This could
all go away quite easily. Pick your most
annoying habit and make an all-out effort
to change. (Replacing it with something
positive works best.) Switch from zombielike TV watching to reading or game playing. Maybe a nearby college is offering an
interesting class or seminar. Next time you
Peninsula Life
87
see a workshop mentioned in the paper,
make plans to go instead of just thinking,
“Hmm, that sounds interesting.”
A sure-fire way to have a better spiritual year is to “get off yourself ” once in
awhile. It’s so easy to be consumed by your
own life. Try to fit in a couple of hours a
month to volunteer for something you
believe in. Non-profits welcome the smallest of contributions. You’re surrounded by
negative thinking more than you realize,
so try to neutralize it by focusing more on
the positive stuff. Switching your thoughts
is never easy, but you can practice having
a more positive outlook: before you drift
off at night, mentally list the things you
feel grateful for that day. Try to identify at
least three.
Emotional spring cleaning seems like
the toughest of all. Redirecting your feelings
is a lifelong battle—just ask a therapist. But
here’s a common area to start on: worry. It
took me a lifetime to realize how useless
worry is and how much of my life I was
missing by keeping my head in the future.
All that anxiety I put myself through worrying about what might happen—always
worst-case scenarios of course—kept me
from enjoying the moment I was in at
the time. You can’t just stop overnight,
but recognizing the futility of worrying
about something you can’t control helps to
break that habit. An easy way to start any
change is to begin with something simple
that makes a big impact—like music, for
instance. Think about putting more of it
into your life. Music is a mood maker, but
it’s also a great mood breaker. I’ve seen it
brighten the dumpiest of moods.
Most of us live in our own little world,
with our own personal trials and triumphs,
so the changes you pick to work on have
to be very personal. My own list seems
ambitious, so I need help. I plan to cut this
paragraph out, enlarge it, and put it on the
refrigerator as a reminder. This spring I
vow to appreciate my surroundings more.
I live on an island framed by mountain
ranges, for heaven’s sake, and have spent
way too much time in front of this computer. I vow to read more books, cut my
intake of white flour, and clean the grout
between hundreds of little 3˝ tiles covering
88
Peninsula Life
the kitchen counter. Finally, since dancing
is a passion, I will spend my next birthday
check on a pair of official dancing shoes.
It’s so easy to be run over by a life full
of tasks that one year can run into the other
until your life drones on with little meaningful thought. Feeling healthy and good
about how your life is going is worth it. This
year, think April Fools’ Day. It’s a great time
to review…then renew. w
Spring clean your life
Commit to doing something
to improve your life:
Physical: Clean up your home:
Vacuum cobwebs; repair something; paint something; move the
couch; buy flowers for the table.
Tidy the yard; add a birdbath and
feeder; make a niche to sit in.
Clean up your body: Get cholesterol
checked and teeth cleaned; sleep
another hour every night; drink
one more glass of water every day;
walk more, buy some dumbbells.
Mental: Attempt to break a bad
habit; read a book instead of
watching TV; play a game once in
awhile; attend a lecture; attempt
the daily crossword; take a class.
Social: Spend more time with
those who uplift you; invite
someone over for dessert; join an
organization of interest; call someone you haven’t seen lately; send
someone a card just to say “Hi.”
Spiritual: Volunteer more; spend
more time on the positive stuff;
end the day with gratitude.
Emotional Play music more; worry
less; forgive someone (including yourself); rent more comedies; play more.
Perspectives
A
Curing Cabin Fever
ccording to the American Heritage Dictionary
of the English Language,
Fourth Edition, cabin
fever is “boredom, restlessness, or irritability that results from a
lack of environmental stimulation, as from
a prolonged stay in a remote, sparsely populated region or a confined indoor area.”
Sounds like winter on the Peninsula
to me. I moved from Portland, Oregon
to Port Townsend, Washington two summers ago. Winter in Portland was just like
summer except the rain was colder. There
were always plenty of movies from which
to choose. There were also plenty of indoor
activities for children. For the most part,
activities in the city seemed to be available
year-round.
However, on the Peninsula it is another story entirely. I endured my first winter
by Heather Flanagan
here—barely. I felt utter abandonment
when the idyllic summer full of new friends,
the Farmers’ Market and endless days at
the beach gave way to…well, nothingness.
The new friends were gone, vanished. They
didn’t tell me they were going. They didn’t
even give me their phone numbers. The
Farmers’ Market closed down way before I
was ready for it to. I had intended on using
it for Christmas shopping, like the Saturday
Market in Portland. And the beach? While
it is lovely to look at from the windproof
environment of my car, taking a walk on
the beach in the winter can be much like
standing in front of a sandblaster. It was a
bit of a jolt for me to experience how different the winter is here, compared to the
summer. Good bye, paradise. Hello, ghost
town.
I now know where my new friends
went. They shut themselves in their nice
warm homes just like my family and I
did. They could occasionally be spotted
at the grocery or video stores. But mostly
they hunkered down alone or with their
spouses. And doesn’t that line get blurry
after a couple months of hunkering? Even
if you have a solid and loving relationship,
you can start to feel all alone.
After a time, your sweetie starts to
drive you completely mad. It seems like
he is intentionally breathing loudly just to
make your life a living hell. Or she seems
like she is banging the dishes a little excessively so as to communicate her unreasonable, seething resentment about having to
share the same zip code with you. Boredom
gives way to restlessness. Restlessness gives
way to irritability. And nothing relieves
boredom quite like the sizzling drama created by two irritable adults chipping away
at one another like a couple of playground
Peninsula Life
89
A Home To Remember
bullies. Welcome! You have entered the
cabin fever zone.
Last year’s shack-wackiness did take
me by surprise. Fortunately, I am fairly
practiced at covert hostility, wherein I
harbor resentment without actually acting
it out. (At least, I hope I have been pulling this off.) But this year, I have a plan
to make these final months of winter not
only bearable, but easy and enjoyable. This
year, I am prepared. This year is going to be
different. I hope.
Here’s the plan:
Unforgettable
grand water views from
almost every room of this
architecturally designed
and beautifully sited
home on Sequim Bay.
ML#223577/26163936
Cath Mich, CRS
WRE/ Sequim - Sunland
137 Fairway Drive
Sequim, WA 98382
(800) 359-8823
90
Peninsula Life
✹ Make sure to have comfortable
outside clothes. A major cause of cabin
fever is that we don’t go outside very often.
Last winter I didn’t go outside because it
was uncomfortable. It is too cold, wet and
windy. This year, I am making sure I have
whatever gear it takes to feel comfortable.
If I have to get a ski mask to keep from feeling sandblasted, so be it. I will get outside
for a walk every day.
✹ Create things to look forward to.
Sometimes the winter gets to me because
the only thing I am looking forward to
is being able to get out and sail, play at
the beach or go camping in the summer.
But that is so far in the future. Putting my
attention on an idealized summer seems to
make the cold seem even less appealing.
By creating little things to look forward
to each week, I bring myself back to the
awareness of the gifts that are around me
right now.
Things that I can look forward to
might include lunch with an uplifting
friend. Or a fancy dinner with my mate.
(Though, honestly, time apart can be much
better for cabin fever than continuing to be
in close proximity outside of the house.)
Perhaps I will plan a trip to the next town
over. Of course, a good staple for me is
a daily trip to the coffee shop. I like this
option because I can be around people
without necessarily having to socialize. I
want time alone, after all.
I can also create things to look forward
to inside the oppressive walls of the cabin.
I like to change the furniture around for a
little jolt of novelty. I can even get a little
thrill from going through the junk drawer
and throwing out anything I haven’t used
in a year. My favorite idea for bringing
down the cabin fever is renting a television
series such as Faulty Towers and watching
an episode or two every night. This tends
to give my brain something to play with
and quells my irritation and boredom.
Having guests over for board games
or movies can make you feel that the cabin
walls are not giving you the squeeze. Everything looks different when the sameness of
home gets stirred up with new energy. It
makes me want to get a new kitten. What
ideas do you have for ways you can create
things to look forward to?
✹ Remember that cabin fever might
strike. This is an important part of my
plan. I can think of all these great ideas
now. But when the cabin fever really starts
to hit, my cognitive functioning can fly out
the window and I can turn into a twitchy,
swirly-eyed demon despite all my fabulous
plans. Then, hopefully, a little red flag
will go up in my mind and I will realize,
“Maybe my husband is not an evil jerk and
I am just experiencing cabin fever.”
If you want to be super proactive, you
and your spouse could devise a code word
now in the event that you get shack-wacky.
I think I will refer to the movie The Shining. I might say, “Honey, I think we are
having a ‘the-shining’ moment.”
Perhaps you are very good at being
kind to your mate despite cabin fever.
Perhaps you turn all that angst into selfloathing. If you live alone, this is more
likely. Shack-wacky single people take
heart, though. You may be the lucky ones.
We with partners are not necessarily sitting
at home all snuggly together, warmed by
the joy of each other’s love. Some of us are
glaring at each other with distain. And we
don’t have the option of dating someone
else. But I digress. My point is: to be aware
that if you feel down on yourself, it may
not be based on your actual shortcomings
(it never is, by the way, but that is another
topic). When I realize that I am down on
myself because I am at the beginning stages
of a cold, for instance, it is always such a
relief.
So it is with cabin fever. If you notice
that you are seeing everything, including
yourself, in a negative light, let that be your
cue to remind yourself about cabin fever.
Instead of saying, “Darn it! I just wasted
a whole week feeling sorry for myself
because the sky is gray,” try saying, “Hmm.
Now this is an interesting psychological
phenomenon. I wonder what the first clue
was that I was starting to get bogged down.
I wonder how I finally realized it was cabin
fever.” You can treat your mental-emotional
state as though you were back in college,
writing your senior thesis about it. You
could even chart your moods and see if
there is a pattern. And then you will have
gotten value out of your experience instead
of another reason for self-loathing.
✹ Go to Palm Springs. This is a nobrainer.
✹ Shake the sillies out. Seriously. Play
music that gets you going. Lose it. Get
goofy. Pick a tickle fight. When’s the last
time you had a pillow fight? Growl. Go to
a *Nia dance class. Our outsides tend to
reflect our insides. Changes in one affect
the other.
When we feel shut in our homes, our
spirit can feel shut in our bodies. We move
less and less. We can feel like a boiling pot
with a tight lid. We will eventually burst.
But we do have the option of choosing how
we will burst. Better a spaz-attack than a
destructive attack that does damage to your
relationships and yourself.
✹ Get the heart rate up at least once
a day. This is code language for exercise.
I don’t know about you, but when I think
“exercise” I think “big project, too many
steps.” It is too vague a concept. If I freeassociate, I first think “ride my bike” then
“too cold” or “go swimming” then “need the
schedule” then “where is my suit” then “oh
yeah, it wore out” then “where can I find a
new swimming suit this time of year.” I end
up with an online shopping project instead
of any actual exercise.
Getting my heart rate up is an easier
concept for me. The quickest way to do
this is to go up and down the stairs a couple
of times or walk quickly around the house
until I am breathing a little faster. If I am
getting ready for bed and haven’t raised my
heart rate for the day, a few jumping jacks
and I am done. I feel better overall with this
minimal effort. It is so simple that there is
never any reason not to do it. It may even
lead to more exercise, but don’t think about
that. Then you start building expectations,
which can end up stopping you altogether.
Why don’t you give it a try it right now?
(Unless you are reading this on a Kenmore
Air flight to Victoria, of course. It might
look a little strange if you run up and down
the center aisle.)
✹ Keep a gratitude journal. My coaching clients will tell you; sometimes the hokiest ideas are the most effective. A gratitude
journal is a great way of getting yourself to
focus on what is wonderful in your life. If
you focus only on how isolated you feel, this
feeling will take up more and more of your
attention and will call a few of its friends
over, such as frustration, irritation, and
despair. Instead, try listing what you feel
grateful for every day and teach your mind
to look for more things to put on the list.
Take it a step further by sharing with
your special loved one what you appreciate
about her (despite the fact that she has been
breathing too loudly for some time now
and has all but given up on doing the dishes
in favor of the more permanent throwing
and breaking of the dishes). You may even
find that your appreciation helps cure your
partner’s cabin fever, too.
I hope my plan is successful for me and
that it has provided you with some ideas for
curing your winter doldrums. It is helpful
in all aspects of life to be aware of potential
challenges and to plan ahead for the results
we want.
There is a distinction, too, between
focusing your attention on a negative condition and planning ahead for a potentially
challenging situation. It can be tempting to
avoid thinking about future challenges. It
may even seem like the right thing to do, as
we don’t want to bring about what we fear by
worrying about it. But if there is fear, avoiding it will only send it to the background
where it can operate without the benefit of
our conscious choice and manifest itself as
reactive behavior. The idea is not to dwell
in fear, but to get clarity around what result
we want in its place. Then we can set our
intentions and focus our attention on where
we want to go. w
*Neuromuscular Integrative Action,
a movement that combines elements of
dance, tai-chi and yoga.
For more information about common
relationship challenges and tools
and strategies for successful
relationships visit my blog at
heather@heatherflanagan.com.
vignette
John Potter
“I had my first dose of the
Northwest when I was 3. I had
great aunts on Maury and Whidbey
Islands and did a summer on
Vashon. My grandpa was a rice
farmer in California, and we had
beans and peas. When I was 4 I’d
be poking beans and peas into the
rows. I always loved gardening.
I’ve had my own garden since
the eighth grade. I like that selfsufficiency…and agriculture work
gets your physical strength up.
Agriculture is always important.
“I was in the cattlemen’s association
for 9 years. When you have animals
you need to be very responsible.
They need to be fed and taken
care of. After cattle ranch isolation,
country life seemed nice. Music has
absolutely been a part of my life
since third or fourth grade. I had
a piano and was in grade school
band, and when I was about 15
my uncle got me started playing
in my grandpa’s country church.
I learned guitar in church. My
ambition was to go to Alaska and
play honky-tonk in a saloon.
“In 1979 I was invited to teach at
the local music store. Now I’ve got
private students. I teach slide guitar,
delta blues, single string, electric
guitar and now I’m working with the
banjo. I’ve played duos and solo and
with a female singer. My favorite
place to play is the farmers’ market.
“In 1959 when I was 19 I built this
house with my dad. I live here by
myself and get up at 5 or 6 a.m. and
play over a latte or an espresso.
“I’ve always liked the Northwest.
It’s got friendly people.”
SCW
Peninsula Life
91
On the Bookshelf
Literary Natu re
a
Of
Dead Center
by Mary Lou Sanelli
It is a March day in Port Townsend
and I am walking up the Haller Fountain
steps. The sky is sunless but it hardly matters. Anticipation lightens the air.
And that’s the best thing of all about
March, that spring is nearly here. It buoys
our temperament, beckons from above
and below, promising relief, utterly and
simply.
Suddenly, people who ignored me all
winter are stopping on the sidewalk to chat,
the waitress at the bakery is smiling, the
postman is smiling, even the curmudgeon
at the hardware store wears a grin, sort of.
And you know and I know how that alone
can make your day. It’s as if everyone is
taking stock and finding themselves wanting of each other again.
Maybe that’s because, for many artists,
it takes a certain self-assuredness—a headdown approach to our work when winter
descends and we find ourselves zooming
in on what it is we do. Which sounds
wonderful. And mostly it is wonderful.
But let me dispel the myth right now that
it is anything even close to wonderful all
the time. It’s also solitary, bemusing, and
frustrating as, say, waiting for a live voice
to come on the phone when you ring up
the airlines.
For me, the creative process steps up
in autumn, intensifies during winter, is
there every morning when I awake and
every night when I go to sleep, or try to.
With so many dark hours to contend with,
I scurry back to the warm, innermost sanctum of my office every chance I get even if
what I meant to do is change the sheets I
haven’t thought about changing in weeks
or make a meal other than popcorn and a
salad. Well, not a salad exactly. More like
lettuce straight from the bag.
To live in the Northwest in winter is to
constantly consider what is most important
to us. It’s why the season is artistic process
at its most exuberant as we connect to our
work, and to ourselves, in a big way. And,
at certain strategic times, such as before
92
Peninsula Life
a deadline or performance, disconnect to
anything or anyone other than what we
need to get on the page, canvas or stage.
“There is no substitute for hard work,”
Edison said. “And, indeed, we go rotten
without it.”
And it’s also why, come spring, it is
really necessary to get outside of our offices
and studios and—whew—out of our
heads. A spring day can change everything
and make of us, in more lighthearted ways,
some new and terrific whole. Which has
everything to do with connectedness.
Actually, it’s dead center.
So there you are. Although I hope this
description doesn’t sound too pompous to
some: those who don’t resonate well to art
as anything but a touchy-feely hobby. Or
to those who haven’t yet tapped into their
creativity but long to after working for
decades in—suppose—an insurance office
in Connecticut before moving here years
after marriage and responsibility channeled
their desires in a different direction.
Because it’s hard for me not to mesh
together life and pomposity while standing
on the Haller Fountain steps —a staircase
built long ago from wood with spacing that
allowed Victorian gentlewomen to use it
in ladylike fashion while hiking their hems
to expose satin heels as they climbed to a
prosperous summit.
And though that image is a far cry
from my Puma sneakers and boot-cut
jeans, I too am a woman ascending a bluff
overlooking downtown, on the move in
my own small world.
As for the ladylike fashion, well, no, I
take the stairs two at time. w
Mary Lou Sanelli is the author of
six poetry collections, her latest
being Craving Water: Poems of
Ordinary Life In A Northwest
Village, an intimate glance at life
on the Olympic Peninsula. Her most
recentwork is Falling Awake.
Living Here
(A Pacific Northwest Reflection)
Kneeling, looking into the lake,
Somewhere between surface and sand,
I am looking back
Framed by the echoes of all I’ve seen.
Fleecy clouds over snow-capped mountains,
Dense, dark green forests at their feet.
And the silence.
So profound you could hear your heart beat,
Were it not for the exultant cry of an eagle
Announcing the fish dinner,
Clutched in his damp talons.
As he swoops upward from the hunt,
Rising from the lake, headed home to share.
When I first arrived, a native said
All this can be a bit overwhelming
And can take some getting used to
Especially if you decide to live here.
In the years since, I’ve joined the sated natives
Content to be jaded by daily immersion
In all the surrounding, normal beauty.
Terence Seward
Peninsula Carver
Hunched over his carving
A stump gnarled with root
Wood shavings cling to his beard
And crunch under foot
He is quietly humming
As he creates a masterpiece
His hands are strong and caring
His art reflects inner peace
The pungent smell of cedar
And clean rain mix in the air
They bring memories of the past
Memories pleasant, memories fair
Smiling a gentle smile
He’s long been rich with life
He thinks of his many blessings
Working his wood, loving his wife
Living in the forest
Near the sea and the Sound
He will never leave the Peninsula
A secret place long ago found
Nathan Weatherby
Peninsula Life
93
this is us
this is us:
at the Kitsap Children’s Musical Theater
“The Ransom
94
Peninsula Life
Photography by Steve Wilson
this is us
of Red Chief”
Peninsula Life
95
Marke tplace
■
Marke tplace
Health/Spa
■
Marke tplace
■
Marke tplace
C’est Si Bon Restaurant
Westport Windermere
800.377.0787
Rejuvenation and Detoxification
Heal Yourself
www.theannapurna.com
Marke tplace
Restaurants/Catering
Real Estate
Annapurna Center for Self Healing
■
Private Chef Dinners
■
Marketplace
■
Marketplace
■
Tri-city Real Estate in
Sunny Eastern Washington
Join the
Port Townsend Athletic Club
Port Townsend, WA
Own Your Own General Store
Retail Space Available
Taylor Street Market,
Downtown Port Townsend
The Undertown Marketplace
509.521.0037
paharty@aol.com
360.385.6560
360.821.1047
Retail
Leisure/Travel
Announcements
Westport By The Sea
Experience the Pacific Ocean
Happy Birthday!
888.386.7263
www.westportbeach.info
www.personalizeitpapersandgifts.com
360-344-3858
Chrysalis Inn and Spa
Troy III – March 8
Tracy – April 21
Wine
888.808.0005
Upstairs in Flagship Landing
Port Townsend, WA
Fine Wines from the Pacific Northwest and Around the World
Peninsula Life T-shirt’s
Order now
360.379.1385
360.379.2404
Retreat to Luxury
Steve Wilson Photograph Posters
The Bellevue Club Hotel
800.579.1110
13” x 19” for $39.95
www.bellevueclub.com
360.379.1385
The Winesceptre
■
800.682.1988
sue.gx@vacation.com
■ 96Marke tplace ■
Marke tplace
This could be an ad
for your business!
■
Marke tplace
■
Rotary Dinner Auction
April 21, 2007
Donations and Reservations
360.385.9517
www.porttownsendrotary.com
Marke tplace
■
Marke tplace
Marketplace
The Black & White Affair
Sue Kenney
Luxury Travel Specialist
18 years of Experience
■
for
Sommeliers and Fine Restaurants
www.winesceptre.com
Marketplace
www.thechrysalisinn.com
PT Wine Tasting Room Lounge
■
Coming Soon!
Get-a-way to Bellingham, WA
Marketplace
Marketplace
Business Opportunities
Pat Harty Realty
Be Your best in 2007
By Chef Santschi
360.437.9568
■
Marketplace
360.385.9344
Catered in your home
Marketplace
■
Windermere Real Estate/Port Townsend
Knowledge-Integrity
20 years Experience
■
Marketplace
Chico Water Cure Spa
on Kitsap Peninsula.
The perfect Valentine Gift!
360-692-5554 • www.chicospa.com
Marketplace
Barbara Bogart
(360) 452-8888
800.868.2662 (ANNA)
■
www.windermerewestport.com
Exceptional French Cuisine
23 Cedar Park Rd
Port Angeles, WA 98362
■
Marketplace
Marketplace
■
■

retreat to luxury - Nina Noble Design

Transcription

Similar documents

General McClellan`s peninsula campaign - My

Danielle Brown - Biz Kid - Cornerstone Credit Union Foundation

Michigan`s Upper Peninsula

Costa Rica - Osa Peninsula - Ecology Project International

Fall/Winter 2013 Newsletter

Carleton S-D - Collegiate Quizbowl Packet Archive

aceitunas golf scramble

heatherwood $284900

Read More

1st December - Mount St Bernard College