Two Charter Memberships…….

I belong to multiple associations/organizations and in two cases, am a charter member. The first one is a bit amusing. I was stationed in Maryland and as usual, received constant requests for donations to things I contributed to as well as many others I don’t. I open a letter one day asking me to become a charter member for the National Museum for Women in the Arts (NMWA) to be established in Washington, D.C. They went on about how there were no dedicated museums to women artists and this would not be part of the National Parks system, but a private museum such as the Phillips. I wasn’t sure if the request was legitimate, but I sent a check and then pretty much forgot about it. I eventually receive another letter about how NMWA has now purchased a building and whatever date they anticipated it would be renovated and opened. Well, that was good to know. When we went back to the D.C. area, we went to the museum for the first time. It was previously a Masonic Temple and has an odd shape. Inside, however, the building itself it practically a work of art; lots of marble and soaring ceilings. Two floors are for rotating exhibits as they have so much art, it can’t all be displayed. One floor is special exhibits and they have had some fabulous ones. The fourth floor is for research and archives. There are rooms for meetings and lectures, a lovely gift shop with obviously great  items and there is a Metro station a short walk away. https://nmwa.org/

The second organization is one I’ve posted about before and I note on Facebook each Memorial Day and Veterans Day. I was stationed in Hawaii when Brigadier General Wilma Vaught made the rounds to tell women about the plan for The Women in Military Service for America (WIMSA) museum. In selecting a site within Arlington Military Cemetery, that ensured it would be easy for people to find. It is h intriguing and a totally different concept than NMWA. The history and stories it contains are varied and inspiring. One of my goals if we ever have an extra couple of days when we visit the kids is to take Amelia to both places, but especially to WIMSA. https://womensmemorial.org/about/

Seafood Festival Time……

There are moments when timing works in one’s favor. The three big civic organizations remaining here each have a major annual fundraiser event for the various programs to include scholarships. The Rotary Club always held a prime rib dinner and auction and it could get lively. The one gentleman who was really the “star” of it so to speak, finally relocated from the area and no one else quite had his ability to pull it all together. In looking at an alternative, the Seafood Festival in Key Largo was immensely popular, but as it grew, the one-way-in and one-way-out traffic problem of the Overseas Highway became such an issue, the Sheriff’s department wanted a change of location. I don’t know who all spoke with whom, but six years ago, the Homestead Rotary took it on for here. As is often the case, the first year was just okay. They worked through some things and the second year was better, and attendance leaped. That also meant they could attract greater sponsorship to keep their costs down. This weekend is Year Six and if it’s like before, somewhere around 10,000 people will attend. At $10/person, the vendor fees and being the ones who sell bottled water and sodas, and have the bar, you can see how it’s successful.

We will be going this afternoon for the usual photo array for the paper. There is the kids area with activities for younger and older kids, the stage with multiple bands performing, the “L” of food vendors with different types of seafood as well as other offerings such as BBQ, or more snacking-type choices and of course dessert items. The fried donut guy was new last year and I don’t know if he will be back. He was quite popular. I do plan to wear my hat I bought there last year and probably won’t buy anything this year, but I hope the vendors do well.

It is a huge effort in planing and an exhausting two days of work. Everyone involved deserves a lot of credit.

Need That Extra Day……

I think it’s good we have the extra day in February this year as more tasks seem to pop up all the time. Oh, I did have a boss one time – well, worked for him on two different assignments years apart – who was a Leap Year baby. While being born on April 1st can come with its own set of jokes and being born right around Christmas can cause birthdays to sort of get overlooked, a Feb 29th birthday has to be the most confusing. He, and maybe most, chose to celebrate Feb 28th in the off-years.

And speaking of birthdays, we are once again, by coincidence of timing going to be with the kids and granddaughter not long after her birthday. No present on that day, but will hold off until we see them not quite two weeks after. That way, we’ll combine a souvenir for the trip and birthday present. She’ll have plenty to open on the actual day. We will take care of her for at least one day for the kids to have a, “date day”, and might turn that into two. If so, one day might be “girls only” and let Hubby go off for a photo shoot as we will be in Center City Philadelphia with a lot of great architecture. If we do that, there could be shopping involved to buy a new outfit. The advantage of Philadelphia in late March is the weather might be really nice for the many outdoor things available. If the weather is tricky, there are plenty of indoor options as well. It might not have the magic of Disney, but the Science Center is terrific and there is allegedly a Lego place which of course will be a draw. We won’t make firm plans because it’s too unpredictable and since we will be there on week days, getting into places should be okay without advance tickets.

 

No Scuba This Month Either…….

In all fairness, I don’t usually have the chance to dive in February and often not January. While the water is colder, I can generally handle that. The issue more often is wind. Hubby has had some really tough days on the water the past three weeks and  was even if my schedule was better, the odds are I wouldn’t have gone out. Yes, those of us who live here do get spoiled. The amusing part is for divers who come from the Northeast or the Great Lakes area consider these conditions to be almost balmy.

Added to the weather aspect, I did take a tumble Jan 6 when I was in a hurry and didn’t notice the uneven paver. My hands were full so when I fell, my right wrists didn’t take the full impact. The sprain was manageable as were the scraps and bruises. It isn’t completely healed though and I suspect trying to wrestle with dive gear for another couple of weeks wouldn’t be a good idea anyway. I am working my way back to being able to do my toning exercises where I use 5-pound hand weights. I do that three days a week with a series of eight different exercises starting with 32 reps per arm, then 34 on the second day, and 36 on the third. I managed four exercises yesterday and stopped. As much as I would like to be completely healed, I know I have to be careful not to push too hard. A friend who was in physical therapy a few times following surgeries was bad about, “if some is good, more is better”. One of the therapists finally convinced him that, no, they set up his schedule for a reason and trying to “do extra” would do more harm than good.

I am grateful it was no worse and am respecting the fact that we don’t heal as quickly as we did in our younger years.

How Many Names?……

I covered an event the other day I wasn’t originally schedule for – another of those reasons I’m behind on posts. It was a “re-naming ceremony”. For those who aren’t familiar with this area, there is a peculiarity about street names and numbers. For those who know, it may be worth a chuckle. We have County and Municipal systems as well as potentially State and Federal. In this county, certain cervices such as Fire and Rescue are at the County. There are also the property records. Anyway, the County designates streets in their system and each municipality in theirs. Since Miami Dade County is north of here, this is why NE 8th in Homestead is also 312th using the County System. It is named Campbell Drive. To complicate matters, sections of a street may be further named in honor of someone. I’m not sure how long a section is permitted and in all fairness, the sign that goes up is not entered into any of the navigation databases nor is it placed on the regular street sign. It is in talking to people where confusion can happen. I was interviewing an individual once whose uncle (maybe great uncle) had a section of one street named for him and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out where he was talking about. It was maybe five or six months later I was on that street and happened to notice the extra sign showing the honor.

Anyway, in the case of the very well-attended Street Renaming Ceremony I covered, it is not a major street and probably won’t cause much confusion. The problem I had was for some reason, my navigation system wouldn’t accept the address on the press release and defaulted to a similar street in another direction. Fortunately, the route took me close enough to the correct place so after I passed it, I managed to work my way back around.

One Visit Done…

Happy New Year is of course in order at least from a traditional perspective. I did get the kids off to the airport yesterday although there was more traffic than I was expecting at that time on New Year’s Day. Bowl games were disappointing for me so I don’t care which of the two teams win the National Championship. Hubby will probably watch next week.

Let’s see, kids discovered the Berry Farm and it was a big hit. Since they didn’t have time to enjoy all the activities, it might be on the list for next year. Not being able to be in the pool because of an unusual prolonged cold front was met with more understanding than I was expecting. (Yes, in the 50s at night and only 70 at peak is “cold” here) Kids had 1.5 “date days” as they did the movie “Ferrari” one afternoon and enjoyed it, then went to the Miccosukee Festival by themselves. I took granddaughter to Coral Castle which she enjoyed, then lunch at Wendy’s and she decided not to go fly the drone with Grandpa later.

New Year’s Eve party was good although dining outside was not feasible this year. That required definite “resetting” of how we usually do things, but it worked and the fire pit along with sweaters/sweatshirts was doable. The one remaining guest leaves tomorrow and I don’t plan to worry with cleaning up the guest room for a while as we don’t have anyone else scheduled. None of the other events have slowed down though and I’ve been juggling multiple things – well, okay, a couple more than usual. In other words, 2023 closed out very much on a busy note and at the moment, 2024 looks to be about the same.

Am still sorting through the leftovers as to what can be used, what can be given away and so forth.

Juggling Activities……

Well, lots of rain caused a slight change of plans, but was manageable. The cold front – yes, I know still nicer than the frigid climes – means no pool time this year. Am waiting a report on how the Berry Farm is. That’s a place that was a traditional Berry Farm for decades and another branch of the family took it over. Their vision was more activities and especially big additions for the holidays.

Dinner was here last night as we did do Suvi Thai Wednesday. It’s White Lion tonight and again, part of the charm for them is being outside with all the decorations and the numerous cats. Too chilly for that, but there will still be good decorations, good food, and wonderful cake, so it will fun. Tomorrow, kids are having for real “date day” and I’ll take granddaughter on grand adventure to Coral Castle. She’s a great age for it and there will quite possibly be lunch at McDonalds, too. If the wind behaves, when we get back, Grandpa will take her for a drone session. The weather didn’t cooperate last year. Am still having to intersperse several tasks and have tried to tie up the loose ends today to leave the next three days clear in prep for party and the other house guest who comes in Sunday.

 

On the Sideline With Photography….

Just as I don’t “proud mom/grandma” too much in my posts, I also don’t often “proud wife” even though I do frequently mention Hubby. Today is the exception. I’m not the world’s worst photographer, but I’m not very good either. (Granted, the sophistication of today’s smart phones significantly help.) My husband bought his first underwater housing for a camera for scuba in the latter months we were in Puerto Rico. He took some photos in becoming adjusted to the camera and then there was a lapse during the process of our move to here. He didn’t do much with photography for a while, but this is a wonderful environment for photography.

Fast forward a few years as he did more, bought new cameras and lenses, learned the computer software for processing, printing techniques and so forth. When they established the South Florida National Parks Camera Club within Homestead Center for the Arts, that was major step as was his designation to become the primary photojournalist for our community paper. While teaching scuba is still a priority focus, photography comes in close. He of course especially loves shooting motorsports and spends much of his leisure time in the Everglades. His range is amazing and for the second year he’s exhibited at the Artz305 event one of the County Commissioners sponsors the first weekend of December. In fact, last month, he sold a couple of pieces at another event. I don’t try to understand how he does what he does, especially when it comes to printing on canvas and on metal. I admit I’m not overly enthused when he photographs insects and he makes sure not to show me any he does of spiders. Aside from that, I love his work and not long ago, we did install a gallery hanging system in the front room to accommodate more of his pieces. He has been on a couple of photography trips and that’s why we have some from areas like the Smoky Mountains.

Back From Orlando…..

Well, Mother Nature was not as kind to us on the trip home although the intense storm that ranged in from Broward County through the Upper Keys did get much worse after we arrived home. We had decided to have a big breakfast and not do an actual lunch stop which helped time-wise. The rain set in for about the second half of the trip. The truck certainly won’t need to be washed for a while.

Okay, the Big Fire Grill was the more casual “best place” we dined. It was at City Walk and there was both a fire pit outside with seating around it and by a stroke of luck our table inside had one of the best views of the open kitchen with an elaborate grill set-up. I’d never seen one like this although Hubby said he had on one of the big BBQ TV shows. It was a double grill with a rack above to move food to that required different cooking times. They use a mix of three woods for grilling and at one point, we did watch the guy move extra wood to the grill to “feed” the fire. We ordinarily would have had two different dishes, but in this case, there was a bison steak and that plus the trout were the only items we can’t get here. Since we regularly get good seafood, we both did the bison. It was perfectly cooked and had fig jam based sauce which we expected wasn’t going to be very “figgy”. We were correct and it was delicious. The potato gratin side was excellent and done with stacked thinly sliced potatoes, a couple of different cheeses and topped with a Parmesan cheese sauce that we think had a little nutmeg as flavoring. We did resist dessert and stuck with coffee. If we lived in the area, we would recommend Big Fire Grill for anyone.

 

Orlando Trip, Day 3…..

Okay, Cowfish first for last night’s dinner. Apparently it is actually a regional chain; Sushi, Burgers, and Bar. Yes, I know, but it is an intriguing idea and the menu is pretty extensive. Modern decor and furnishings, bright colors. They did have chicken and pulled pork sandwiches as well as burgers; no entree type dishes. Also only sweet potato fries and other sides like Spicy and Sweet Thai cucumbers. Hubby decided to go with a sushi sashimi combo and it was nicely presented; excellent quality according to him. I mis-read the menu and went with something that was a “take” on a burger and it was a mistake so I won’t even describe it. I disassembled enough to have a light meal and what I ate was good.

We started a bit later today and went to Universal Studios Park. We did a few things and the main rain did fall while we were inside. A light drizzle lingered as we went to Lombard’s Landing for lunch, but lifted and no more rain for the day. It was a lovely restaurant in the “San Francisco” area. Clam chowder for Hubby and onion soup for me helped with having just come in from the drizzle. Lobster rolls won out although everything on the menu sounded good. We had some time before the movie we were planning and decided to take Hogwarts Express back to the other park as one last piece of Harry Potter fun. We took in “A Haunting in Venice”, the most recent of the Hercule Poirot movies. I generally like Kenneth Branaugh, but simply cannot get used to him in that role. The movie was good of course and the theater had the same leather reclining seats as in the ShowBiz theater in Homestead.

We’re off soon for dinner at Big Fire Grill. Like Cowfish, it was not here during our last trip. No possibility of mis-reading the menu tonight as everything is traditional.