Don't Dis the Duc by Karla Stover

      

murder on Hood Canal   murder in Tacoma, WA.       old-fashioned Gothic

In my book, Murder, When One Isn't Enough I sent my characters on a boat trip to the Skokomish Indian Reservation. It's located in what is called Hood Canal's Great Bend, more or less across the water from Tahuya and near Potlatch State Park. In front of the reservation is Annas Bay and in the bay is the Indian Hole. When the tide goes out, boaters can let their craft float over the hole and toss their anchors up on the beach. I can't find out how deep the hole is but the beach is where I went with my family to dig geoducks.

A geoduck is a type of very large clam (the shell is 6 to 8 inches and the neck can be up to 3 feet long) native to primarily Washington State and British Columbia. According to "Wikipedia", part of the name refers to genitals. Pealing the skin off the neck is like removing a condom. When we got one--and digging them isn't easy because the neck sticks out of the sand but the body is deep down--Mom ground the meat and made chowder.

A few years ago, my niece, who worked in Washington D.C. was asked by her boss to cater a typical Puget Sound dinner. When the geoduck was delivered, the chef didn't know what to do with it and she had to call her mother and have her mom tell him how and what to do with it.

For those people who remember the TV show Dirty Jobs, Mike Rowe dug one (what the Chinese call Elephant Trunk Clams) but broke the shell--a no-no and sign of a novice. He took it to Shelton and had a restaurant chef cook it for him. Another place they showed up was in Betty McDonald's book and movie, The Egg and I. According to her biography, she was on the set when the movie was made and I don't why she let them be called gee-o-ducks when she knew the proper pronunciation is gooey ducks.

In my fiction reading, I love learning things. Author Mary Stewart did that really well--taught things, that is. I like to do the same--introduce readers to the Pacific Northwest.

Geoducks can live to be over one hundred. I like them and think they're special So did Evergreen Community College in Olympia, Washington when they became the school's mascot.