Hoodsport Home


On the way to a memorial service in my old hometown, we drove past a place I once affectionately called my Hoodsport Home. It sits right on the water's edge along Hood Canal. It has been vacant for a couple decades, and gradually has been getting more decrepit.  Warning signs on the building clearly state: Stay Out.

 

But on the way back home, I asked my husband to stop. Even though I was in high heels and a dress, I got out and peeked in the windows and looked over the property where I once spent some delightful summertime days in my childhood. The Hoodsport Home was the combination home and research lab of our church friends.

 

My young girlfriend lived upstairs with her family. Her dad, a marine scientist, worked in the lab downstairs. His company was analyzing the marine life along Hood Canal and the negative impact of the chemicals his company was funneling into the waters. This was the early days of ecological science.

 


But in my child’s eyes, the lab was filled with interesting test tubes, microscopes, and white-coated researchers. The home upstairs had fascinating seashells lining the windowsills, and marine life photography hanging on the walls. I loved visiting there. In the summers we’d walk along the shoreline and swim in the salty water. 

 

Back then, that sweet family didn’t know they were giving me memories that would last my lifetime, but they did. All it cost was time and sharing their place.


Since we still have some more sunny, summer weeks left, I'm thinking of ways to give away some time and make a few lasting memories for some children I know. It's amazing what we remember from our childhood summers.

 

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