So it was my turn to visit, and my friend since Junior High school told me to fly to the state of Washington and visit him on the Hood Canal. I’ve never been to Washington State, and I learned that the Hood Canal is a 68 mile salt water fjord, that is an L-shaped arm of the Puget Sound, sitting between the Olympic Peninsula to the west and the Kitsap Peninsula to the east.

It is popular for Kayaking, scuba diving and harvesting lots of oysters and clams. And after he sent me a photo of two orcas breaching in the middle of this picture, with the live photo taken from his back deck, I needed to go there and pay him a reciprocal visit and try to see this beauty myself, and hopefully see some of these nice little Orcas.

It was a short visit, but we drank some beer, ate some delicious, safely cooked oysters, amazing oyster chowder, hiking in the mountains, and I also did some kayaking alone in the Hood canal, because Roger was still recovering from knee surgery, and was not able to do it yet. And lots of guy talk you know, but I promise we did not spit tobacco, but some colorful language may have blurted out appropriately when we talked about the WOKE destruction of the city of Seattle and some other political stupidity that we both agreed on.

I enjoyed my lone kayak trip out into the canal, and felt at peace with nature, but also realized that there were potentially Orcas out there, who may snoop curiously at me in my vulnerable yellow kayak, but there were no Orcas that day, just a seal. But after a while, the wind kicked up and the waves became rougher, and my sixth sense told me that although I wanted more, I needed to head back, due to the danger, and that I was a novice.

It was a good time. He showed me how a mountain man-woodsman lives, and how he was self-reliant, yet worldly, in an isolated area, that although extremely beautiful, is not for everyone. We learned more about each other, and of course, those details will not be discussed ever. But more importantly, the quiet and majestic beauty showed me that although each of us carries our own different and bizarre life difficulties that at times seem to shackle us or appear insurmountable or impossible to overcome, there is a golden value to the gift of friendship based on non-judgement and respect and that despite our adversities, we are both blessed by God to live on this majestic earth as long as he allows us.

And yes, this piece was sponsored by a soothing shot of scotch.

(C) 2026 SRCarson Publications.

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