The First Seabeck Gathering

by Carole MacRury

It’s been sixteen years since Haiku Northwest held its first gathering at Seabeck. There have been many changes since then. In the fall of 2008, there were fourteen buildings, including the Historic Inn. Since then, eight buildings have been added, plus the boardwalk and the bouncy bridge.

Michael Dylan Welch and Alice Frampton cohosted this first gathering. Alice grew up in Seabeck and for a time lived in the historic Emel House on the grounds of Scenic Beach State Park. Alice’s mother Pat Emel, who has since passed away, shared a bit of her family history with us when we toured the home. Many of us were touched by the heart-shaped stone we noticed in the hearth. Alice recently confided in me that she and her siblings kept it polished up with Vaseline.

There is and always will be something special about first times and first impressions especially. Here are a few that I recall.

I got lost. Google Maps led me down a dead-end road in the middle of nowhere. I had to call Alice, who helped to get me back to the main road.

That first sweeping view of Seabeck took my breath away. A few colorful buildings looked across the blue waters of the Hood Canal towards the snow-capped peaks of the Olympic range. There was an antique store, general store, restaurant, and marina. All that was left of a once-bustling mill town with a reputation of being the liveliest town in the Puget Sound. That year, the restaurant, now closed, was a good place for early arrivals to gather. Another place was at Alice’s mother’s home, where early arrivals could enjoy snacks and drinks on the lawn. If memory serves me, I recall Michael Dylan Welch trying out a kayak that Alice used to row across the bay for coffee.

Equally impressive was the Seabeck Conference Center across the street with a wooden bridge leading us over a lagoon, once known as a mill pond, to the historic lodge where we were to check in. We were welcomed by the same wooden rocking chairs on the verandah that we see today. Colorful maple leaves were scattered here and there.

Our first meeting was held in Reeser House, a two-story Victorian home that housed us and acted as our meeting space. We held workshops and presentations in what was basically the living room, with chairs lining the walls. It was cozy, to say the least, sharing bedrooms and bathrooms and passing each other in the night in robes, slippers, and pj’s. A bit like camp!

2008 saw the birth of the Haiku Hat! On this first meeting Michael welcomed the group by wearing a “Sunshine Hat,” complete with a halo of yellow beams! He’s worn many more haiku hats since then and he does it well!

Our first featured guest speaker was Emiko Miyashita who came all the way from Japan. Other presenters that first year were Ruth Yarrow, Margaret Chula, and Christopher Herold, the latter who led us in morning meditation on the center’s beautiful grounds.

Emiko and Michael shared translations of Japanese poets, including one of my favorite poets, Santōka. My favorite memory of Emiko was when we helped her into her kimono, learning to tie an obi in the process. Later, I was helped into one of those kimonos myself.

There was a first show and tell given by Ruth Yarrow and a first scavenger hunt led by Alice Frampton. All I scavenged was a memory, that of the toothy grin of a dead raccoon I discovered under some leaves, crawling with maggots.

There was the first time hearing the historic old bell call us to mealtimes, the same bell that used to call millworkers to the mess hall. We made sure to be there by second bell. Round tables welcomed conversation, and we passed food around in platters and bowls, family style.

And the first time exploring the grounds with its colorful maples, conifers, and heritage apple trees left over from its thriving mill-town days. The fierce fire that destroyed this mill town apparently cooked the apples right on their branches. The smell! Today, those trees still thrive, blossom, bear fruit, invite deer, crows, and wandering poets with pencils in hand to write haiku.

Also, the first time venturing into the woods to explore the Cathedral in the Woods and the old five-acre cemetery, where we wandered among ghosts and broken tombstones to write more haiku.

There was a first walk on the beach, and around the lagoon. I recall taking a photo of Michael successfully skipping stones across the water. Did I say “camp” earlier? So much fun!

And so much more . . . but like the heart-shaped stone in Alice’s childhood home, the heart of Seabeck remains in the hearts of a small number of Haiku Northwest poets and invited guests who lived together in a retreat-like setting, shared haiku, solidified friendships, made new ones, and gathered at round tables three times a day to chat and break bread. Being at Seabeck, to this day, feels like coming home.