Fishy Tales

My family’s ‘lack of fresh fish’ problem while living in central Ohio has been solved! No more whining for me … at least about the lack of edible delicacies from the sea. (No promises are being made regarding other subjects.)

Recently I reconnected with an old friend from elementary school through a names database. We graduated from high school together and then lost touch. We’ve exchanged information about our classmates, and I made sure to give him contact info for the committee that puts on the reunions, the ones he’s never made it to.

Anyway, it seems that my long-lost friend Dave resides in Anchorage, AK, and is an avid fisherman. In the course of getting to know one another again, I mentioned (heartily berated, is more like it) the fact that edible (read “fresh”) fish is/was non-existent here. And life as a fish-eater wasn’t any better during the ten years we lived in TN.

Dave offered to send me all of the Alaskan halibut and King salmon he had in his freezer!

Last Saturday our UPS delivery driver didn’t understand why I was so happy to see him, nor why I was nearly dancing while waiting for him to hand me the white box marked “Fresh Seafood—Keep Refrigerated” that had been overnighted by Dave. He just didn’t understand why I was so excited about getting fish.

I hauled the box into the kitchen, announcing from the garage door that the “fish man” had arrived, and began opening the box with the first sharp object that landed in my hand. Hubby and son were a little surprised at the size of the box and began to help me get it and the interior styrofoam open. WooHoo!

I began shoveling package after package of naturally red (no dyes added) King salmon from the box. Then came the thick white slabs of halibut filets! We had no way of weighing it all but there was at least twenty pounds of beautiful, natural, naturally caught, vacuum-packaged, and flash frozen fish! This is as good as it gets in a land-locked state, folks.

As we piled our plates high with the baked wonder and added my home-made tartar sauce, we marveled at the beauty of the solid white flesh of the halibut and the moistness of the salmon.

I’ll bet I could write a pretty good erotic story about this experience and you’d never guess I was talking about Alaskan fish! Sorry to let you down—because I’m not going to do that—at least not here.

An Update and Merry Christmas

It’s been a busy time! I’ve been writing in between taking care of sick kids and grandkids—and myself—after mothering them back to health.

While in Louisville to help out with the kidlets I was able to attend the holiday party for the Jefferson County foster kids. What a great time! Lots of food, lots of gifts, and lots of smiles! There were about 350 smiling and laughing folks packed into the venue and a multitude of volunteers—some of them dressed as elves.

If you’ve been reading this blog, you know I’ve been doing some copywriting for the Jefferson County Foster Care/Adoption Association. There are many, many groups, companies, and individuals to thank for making the holiday party happen. We’ll be getting those “Thank Yous” out ASAP.

I moderated the annual “Get Organized/Set Those Goals!” chat and a delightful interview with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett (www.penonfire.com) at The Writer’s Chatroom (http://writerschatroom.com) this month. An article about setting goals, written by me, will appear in the first-ever newsletter sent out by TWC next week.

On January 7th at 2:00 PM EST I will be interviewing Oscar-winning screenwriter Diana Ossana (Brokeback Mountain) at TWC. Diana will be starting us off in the New Year with our new format and time. I can’t wait to “meet” her. Check out the schedule page for a complete bio and more information about the chat. Y’all are welcome to attend.

May you and yours have a most Merry Christmas and may all your dreams come to fruition in the New Year!

Linda
www.lindajhutchinson.com