Author Archives: Charlie Hudson

About Charlie Hudson

Off with my combat boots and onto writing best describes Charlie my two careers. Born in Pine Bluff, Ark., and raised in Louisiana, I count myself as a military veteran, wife, mother, freelance writer, and author. What was intended to be a quick two years in the Army became a 22-year career instead, and somehow in the process, I discovered that I was an inadvertent pioneer by serving in several positions that had previously been held only by men. By the time I was in Desert Storm and later Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti, women in leadership assignments was more widely accepted. My love of writing never left me though whether it is a short article that highlights an animal rescue group, penning the stories of a female police detective in the Florida Keys, or presenting issues about aging that Baby Boomers need to address, or working on a corporate proposal. When my husband, Hugh, also retired from the Army, we relocated to South Florida where we can both enjoy the underwater world in dive sites all around Key Largo. We do break away though to still travel, and especially visit the Washington, D.C. area where son Dustin is a professional dancer and lives with his wife, Samantha.

Delays and Recovering…..

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Air travel during the holidays is always subject to frustration and this year was no exception. Unfortunately, once again, what should have been the kids departing at 5:45 yesterday turned into much later with extra “airport time” because the exact departure time was a bit uncertain and better to be at the airport just in case. Anyway, it was after midnight when they managed to get to their condo and I’m assuming they were able to sleep in. That was part of the reason to fly them back Jan 1st; it allowed for one down day (today) in case of issues and trying to re-establish routine. It was a great visit though with perfect weather. Not as much pool time this trip due to other “adventures” and that was okay, too.

Hubby always laughs at me for buying too much food for the holidays although it doesn’t change that ingrained habit of mine. I’ll be distributing items among friends and neighbors over the next couple of days to get things back in order plus we will be creative with leftovers for most of the week. The only culinary disappointments for the kids was something really odd happened when they were supposed to have lunch at Chefs on the Run and they weren’t open. Also, Exit One didn’t work out schedule-wise, but we did go on to Capri which they were very happy with. Amelia and I still don’t eat sushi and Suvi has enough other choices so the kids got their “fix” the first night they were here. White Lion was the usual hit and with four people to share we were able to have the big brownie dessert. We would have had five sharing except granddaughter wanted a Sprinkles cookie which might also have been part of her breakfast the next morning. And there was the slice – well, slab really – of chocolate peanut butter cake that came home to be consumed the following afternoon.

Gap During the “Whirl”….

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The good new is the kids were not delayed by much this year with their flight. It does tend to be “a whirl” of activity when they’re here. Part of that though is to allow “Mom and Dad” to sleep in as granddaughter is the other “early bird” in the family. She usually gets up around 7:00 and joins me to give them an extra hour or so. Then it’s a real breakfast and off for an adventure. The kicker is trying to make sure the day’s adventure gets them back in time for a pool session, then manage whatever dinner plans we have. Yesterday was extra tricky as they decided to go a greater distance than usual to Shark Valley, one of the parts of the Everglades to the west. One of our neighbors was coming to dinner and Hubby had to go get my new computer. It did all work out without much time to spare. The pool conditions weren’t the most comfortable – water is at 84 with the heater on – it’s the air when you get out that makes it less than ideal. With granddaughter’s latest growth spurt and the max depth of the pool at five feet, she can now go one-third the length and it isn’t over her head. She still doesn’t want to put her face in the water, but is good with dog paddle and can make the length in that way. Mom and Dad provide the audience and we did set a 30-minute limit which went just a little longer.

Suvi for sushi and Thai food was Tuesday night and we did pork tenderloin and chicken with sides here last night. Today is date day for the kids and if they get stirring in time, we’ll drop them off at the movies where they will catch as early show and then have a leisurely lunch at Chefs on the Run. Granddaughter and I have our own adventure planned. Hubby is of course working although he will be home in the afternoon. He’ll make the run to Publix to finish provisioning for Saturday’s party as I once again will do pool time. He has been in the cold water for days now teaching so I want to give him this break.

Planning Adventures…..

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I have grocery list from daughter-in-law now and granddaughter’s favorites haven’t changed much, so will do the rest of the provisioning Monday. Am still keeping fingers crossed they have no significant flight delays as last year was really bad and we lost almost two days of visiting. With the horse/farm experience locked into place, that leaves them with two days for adventure as a three-some and one “date day” which they usually choose for a movie. Traffic is so bad going into the Keys this time of year, they might pass on doing anything down there. On the other hand, if they can be on the road by a little before 11:00, it can be more manageable.

Anyway, granddaughter has never been to Monkey Jungle or Coral Castle, both great places the kids haven’t been to for a while either. They did Everglades Outpost Wildlife Refugee last year and the regular Alligator Farm the year prior so those probably aren’t on the list. Granddaughter may want some repeats though and we can play everything by ear. We have not yet checked out Heritage Market now they have their main building open and their new menu looks terrific. Their coffee is allegedly some of the best around as is the reputation of their ice cream and sorbet. It may make it onto the list for something. The threatened cold front is arriving and all we can do is hope the short duration followed by sun and the normal 80 degree weather does follow while they are here. As I have mentioned, it will mostly impact pool time. We have laid in hot chocolate which tends to be needed post-pool even when the temperature is better.

I’m still chipping away at the multiple domestic house-prep tasks to do. Linens are all swapped out and only a few things left to clean.

Christmas Traditions…..

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The area for the tree is almost clear and we’ll probably decorate Saturday. We’ve had the tree a couple of weeks in the stand keeping it watered until we could get things rearranged. In watching a TV ad this morning, I was reminded of something from growing up. I don’t know who all had this and remembers. We had a special nut bowl made of wood with a center round piece where the nutcracker and six picks fit into. The grocery store carried bags of almonds, Brazil nuts, pecans, and walnuts in shells and the bowl stayed in use from Thanksgiving through Christmas. (New Year’s was not really a thing for us.) Even though we did often have pecans during the year (lots of orchards around us), this particular blend was only available during the holidays.

I may have posted before that Christmas Eve was always at my maternal grandparents with the gift exchange of having drawn someone’s name at Thanksgiving. It was more a “grazing event” than meal with extra sweets. Papaw gave each grandchild a stocking filled with fireworks and that was the climax of the evening. (Lots of room in the backyard for the roman candles.) Then it was back there for Christmas noon meal. It seems to me Christmas morning was cinnamon rolls after opening presents, although I may be mis-remembering that one.

When I began to work parttime at a department store I would arrive for Christmas Eve later due to closing time and the drive over, but the store was not open in the days where basically nothing was as there were no 7-11 type places then.

Since the kids don’t come down now until after Christmas, our tradition is quiet morning and usually day if the friends who do the dinner have everyone in at 6:00. If it’s a noon meal, that gets us home around 4:00 for a quiet evening. The New Year’s Eve party we do will be small this year as two of the couples have moved away.

 

STEM and STEAM……

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Musing ahead alert. There is an awesome principal at one of our charter schools which is a grades 6-12 academy and we have covered them a few times for the paper. We deal with a lot of the schools and when the principal reached out to the paper a few years ago, I wasn’t impressed with the location for reasons I’m not going to detail here. However, it was another one of those situations where I was so glad I went because the principal has made it her mission to provide what is in essence an educational opportunity oasis to students. We have some of the widest school choices in the country and charter schools are a major part of that. (I’m not going to get into the pros and cons of charter schools here)

The particular charter school company this school belongs too seems to be especially good and this principal is determined she will bring in every advantage she can for the students no matter what path they choose. Here is the link to the article we did last week, bottom of the page:  https://www.southdadenewsleader.com/eedition/page-a01/page_8d945f10-d1bf-54c3-b23d-e21492e285ed.html

Going back to STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math curriculum which is all the rage (I mean that in a good way). STEAM is one of two things where A is either for Aviation or Art. As I have posted numerous times, trying to make a living in any of the arts is usually difficult, yet when the passion for art in whatever form exists in an individual, it is equally difficult to balance the need for a “practical” choice and fulfill the passion. Deriding or trying to suppress the passion is not something I recommend based on our experience. If I could go back and change one thing when son was in college, I wish I had accepted his request to swap to theater major with dance minor (major wasn’t offered). Insisting he do something more “practical” did not work for any of us.

Of Horses and Such……

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I can’t claim to be a horse person as such although I appreciate them. Hubby, on the other hand, had bad experiences as a child and remains convinced they are always plotting to hurt humans. (That’s only a slight exaggeration). Anyway, I’ve mentioned Daddy grew up on a farm in rural Arkansas. Papaw had a horse that he used as both a plow horse for the twice a year prepping of the large garden and rode once or twice a day depending on which meadow he sent the cows to for grazing. Part of the fun in our visits was to sit on the fence in the later afternoon for “the round-up” when he would bring the cows in to the barn for the night. Giving us rides on Tony (the horse) was a bit of a process for him, but he would occasionally take time and let all of us have a turn around the fenced in area. I think the reason we never got into riding more was because a) that wasn’t the purpose of the horse and b) my oldest cousin did give it a try a few times and that didn’t go very well. (We weren’t around, but apparently the end result was a broken arm).

Moving on, when we were in Hawaii, I did take son for riding lessons and that continued briefly when we moved to Virginia. The lady giving the lessons relocated the horse and it wasn’t as convenient, plus son decided he was into other things. He did go on a couple of riding excursions on vacations, but never wanted more than that. In reality, “being into horses” definitely requires time and money, so that wasn’t something to urge him to reconsider. In looking at activities for the kids when they come after Christmas, I ran across the Redland Equestrian Center. They have a working farm as well as give regular lessons, etc., Granddaughter enjoyed going to the Pinto Farm a couple of years and this is kind of a “cut above”. It involves a two-hour tour of the farm, petting zoo, and so forth and a 20-minute guide-led horse/pony segment. That is, someone actually leads the horse/pony by the reins. I had sent the link to son and he said he thought they would enjoy. After having now booked them in, I realized I didn’t specifically ask daughter-in-law if she would. If the answer turns out to be “no”, she can let son and granddaughter do the horse part and share in the rest.

Enduring Movie….

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I saw somewhere this is the 80th anniversary year of “Casablanca”. Aside from always loving the movie, it was the first one Hubby and I watched together at his place. The actual first movie we saw together was the comedy “Outrageous Fortune” when we had our first official date. Anyway, back to Casablanca. In reading the background, they apparently had no idea it would be as big a hit as it was and certainly wouldn’t have anticipated it would endure for decades. From my perspective, it had the most memorable “one-liners” until “Big Chill” came out. And the terms of, “Of all of the gin joints in all of the world,”; “Here’s looking at you Kid,”; “We’ll always have Paris,”; :”Shocked, shocked, I’m shocked to find gambling going on,”; and “Louie, this may be the start of a beautiful friendship,” have been used so many times in so many ways. I doubt anyone even knows how many times the song has been played. I can’t imagine ever watching it without tearing up at the final scene between Rick and Elsa.

It is a such an interwoven story of love, drama, world events, good versus evil, personal sacrifice, and redemption. Not being in the world of film, I can’t speak to all the aspects that is studied from that perspective. As much as I enjoyed Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, etc., in other movies, if forced to choose, it would have to be Casablanca as my favorite. I don’t know if young people watch it these days, but I hope so. I’ll have to ask the kids when they come for their holiday visit which is now less than a month away.

 

Thanksgiving Leftovers…..

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 I suppose it is as much “Turkey Part 2” as anything. In having the meal, sending food/leftovers with friends and having turkey sandwiches Thursday night, there was a brief discussion yesterday as to if we had enough turkey for the traditional heat up leftovers. Hubby was concerned and I double-checked to reassure him. There was some ham although we are planning some of that for pasta matriciana next week. Anyway, it did work and in the gap I had late afternoon I retrieved the turkey carcass and put it on the simmer away to have the stock and get the last meat off for turkey soup which I will finish tomorrow to have ready for lunch. I am not a fan of dark meat, although I can do it in the soup as there are plenty other flavors to blend. Back before I was more careful with carbs usually did a turkey with wild and brown rice, corn, and some veggies or went more veggie heavy with potatoes. I think I’ve posted here before about finding the new line of “riced cauliflower” that works well in soups to provide body, plus extra veggies in a low carb way. That’s how I’m leaning at the moment as soon as I make a quick trip to the store for just a couple of things to hold us over. Regular grocery shopping is Monday or Tuesday, but we have some errands we really have to deal with Monday and Hubby’s wreck diving class he’s teaching (one of his favorites to teach) was rescheduled for Tues & Wed. He might take care of it Wed afternoon; we’ll see how long the errands take on Monday and work it from there.

Oh, and there is enough apple pie for him to have another three nights; another important part of the holiday meal.

Sort of Quiet Thanksgiving….

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It does involve a 14-pound turkey though. This is one of the first Thanksgivings in a while Hubby hasn’t been asked to work most of it and the friend who usually does Thanksgiving dinner for our “group” wasn’t going to be able to. Additionally, our “group” has shrunk with the recent relocation of one who usually also had his daughter and sometimes son-in-law along. We offered to do the holiday meal and Hubby was concerned about getting a turkey. We still weren’t entirely sure of how many were coming to lunch the day I went  to the store and I thought it best to go a bit larger rather than smaller. This is why we have a 14-pound turkey. Hubby has decided on using dry brine (I think it’s easier to deal with although I don’t intervene in such decisions) and to fry. I’ve explained the frying process before and it is a kind of cool part of the holiday plus makes for an excellent turkey. I’m not doing anywhere near the variety of dishes of some and am sticking with the classics of stuffing – well, it’s more like dressing since you can’t stuff a fried turkey – a small ham, mashed potato casserole, green bean casserole, rolls, gravy, and cranberry sauce. Neither of us are pumpkin fans so dessert is apple pie and a friend is bringing a lovely cheesecake with lemon curd. Another couple we’re friends with are going to drop by for dessert if she doesn’t get overwhelmed in preparing their evening holiday meal. Even though the group will be small, I will send two meals worth home with the friend who is bringing the cheesecake and cranberry sauce, send two meals worth of leftovers with the other friend and take one meal’s worth to another friend on Sunday. That does equate to eight meals, the only difference being three of them won’t include anyone going for seconds.

And as of this morning, the weather is to be sunny and up to 84 so we will be having lunch on the covered terrace,

Changing Interests…..

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Turns out our granddaughter won’t be in Nutcracker this year. She’s decided to try tap and apparently is liking it more than ballet. I’ve always been curious to see if she will stick with dance as she is literally growing up in the studio. She began to mimic movements about as soon as she could walk and quickly took to things as she could actually understand what they were. Even though three was the official age for kinder ballet, she was “playing at it” even before. With that said, her advantage won’t necessarily translate into a continued interest. Any parent who is realistic understands this although there is often a fine line between acknowledging a child should move on from an interest versus “don’t be a quitter”.

Our son was not a team sport player other than a couple of years in Little League. He was an okay player and it just wasn’t a good fit for him. Soccer was never much of an interest.Karate was where he did well from when we moved to Virginia all the way through high school. He did achieve his second degree brown belt, has a batch of trophies from tournaments and wasn’t far from black belt when he went to college (for that period), discovered dance, and utterly embraced that as I have discussed in numerous posts. I think the kids are philosophically prepared for granddaughter to not continue with dance if that is her choice, but it’s too early to try and project if that will be the case. I don’t know much about tap   even though they do always include it in the Spring and Fall shows.