Raccoons and All, Part 1
By Daniel Hooker
I met Olga as I walked into Island Lumber here on Vashon Island (a place I’ve called home for many years). Olga’s bright smile and courteous questions immediately caught my attention. As I walked on, the faint accent registered. I turned and asked Olga where she was originally from. She said, “The Ukraine.”
My heart went out to her, and I said, “I’m so sorry for your country’s loss of over a million people during the last three years. Will you be able to stay and work here?”
Olga replied, “I hope so.”
As we all know, we have a new president, and many people – here legally and illegally, and including refugees from war-torn countries – are wondering if they’ll be able to live and earn their livelihood under this new political term.
The next time I was in Island Lumber doing my usual thing that is my habit (bringing the jokes, and the laughter follows) there Olga was, helpful, with her sincere smile.
I told her my latest joke, one of which was the fruit of my labor while shopping at Thriftway, where a few employees now reciprocate with their own humor and worthwhile jokes. Olga laughed at the punch line, and then I asked, “It sounds like you have questions and concerns for your continued ability to stay and work here. Can I interview you?”
“Yes,” Olga replied.
Olga and I met at Hedy Anderson’s “Sugar Shack,” and Hedy was kind to offer us the space in the back patio, which is where I saw my friend Rebekah Kuzma’s last performance with Saint Ophelia. As Olga and I chatted, her story reminded me of the Wizard of Oz on so many levels. Here is a story that includes friendly raccoons and a coffee house! Now you’re talking!
As Olga shared her story, I found myself immersed in her vivid, colorful memories.
Just imagine for a moment that Vashon suddenly was besieged by war. Would you stay as missiles flew overhead, then dropped on a neighbor’s house – not on a specific military target, but just a random pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey shot? What kind of war is it when only civilians are targeted? War is terrorism. Insanity at its highest. Where would you go as an Islander? How would you deal with this drastic change?
Here on Vashon Island, we are a country, and, in a small way, like a country. We are a village in the sense that we as a whole strive (for the most part) to create a more harmonious life together, no matter what our ideological differences may be.
Olga is by all means a working, contributing member of our community whose homeland is an island forced into defending itself in war. How can we help our Olga (Dorothy) have more security in this temporary refuge from the war? What assurances can we offer her as a neighbor that we are here for her?
I asked Olga, would she return to the Ukraine?
“When the war is over. After that, it will be at least two years before the economy starts to recover,” Olga said.
“Yes, of course. It is my home. Nowhere else does the rich fertile earth smell and feel the same.”
We at the Loop are grateful to storyteller, humorist, and Island Voice, Daniel Hooker, for introducing us to Olga. In addition to Daniel’s story above, this issue also features a companion interview with her. Read “Olga and the Ukraine War” on Page 3.
