Dungeness for Dad

When our local grocery store had a special on Dungeness crab (today only!) Laurie and I agreed we should eat a crab in Dad's honor. It was one of his favorite foods (and ours) and also brought back a lot of memories of crab catching and eating with him.

Dungeness (pronounced DUN-ja-nes) crab is native to the Pacific Northwest and, as far as I'm concerned, is the best seafood in the world. Other crab pales in comparison to the solid, rich, slightly sweet meat of the Dungeness.

When I was a child we spent vacations on a beautiful beach on Puget Sound. (We would eventually live there after Dad built a lovely home there.) Early mornings, we'd row out to the kelp beds, Dad at the helm, and do some bottom fishing for flounder and sole. (Of course, we always ended up catching bullheads and dogfish too.) I loved bottom fishing, I could just throw a line over the boat and let it sink, and not have to worry about casting and getting my line tangled. We'd also tie some bait an oven grate and and sink it, hoping for some Dungeness to climb on and ride up to the surface. No fancy crab traps for us! We'd usually end up with enough crab to feed our family of five. At low tide, we'd row to the far beach of Squaxin Island and dig a bucket full of butter clams to go with the other bounty.

These were sweet days of beachcombing, boating, campfires, exploring and learning about the natural world. I wouldn't trade these days for anything. Thanks, Dad.

Laurie and I polished off most of the crab tonight; there's a little left over for tomorrow.

For anyone interested, there's a biography/obit of my Dad posted on the funeral home website.