I’ve been writing for many years and for many reasons. Inspired by my love of reading, I started writing fictional narratives in grade school as well as some poetry.
As I entered high school, my love of sports led me to journalism and specifically, sports writing. By the time I graduated high school, I headed to college with a laser focus on writing sports for a daily newspaper (yes, I’m that old). My journalism career careened from sports to news to publication design and eventually to digital and finally out of journalism for a while.
But I never stopped writing.
This blog started another chapter in my writing journey – not with a specific purpose, but merely as a cathartic exercise for a parent overwhelmed by the introduction to life as a United States Naval Academy father. That eventually led to a book borne out of follow a rabbit trail of random facts, legend and jokes surrounding USNA and then a second book elaborating on a two-time military academy parent.
While I never really mastered any form of writing, I also never stopped tinkering with different forms – whether it was a new poetry (sometimes a sonnet, sometimes a sestina) or, most recently, song lyrics.
I have always loved music (hence the Herndon playlists) but am clearly the only member of my family that lacks musical talent. I’ve often puttered around with lyrics, but without any musical skills, there never seemed an endgame in sight.
After I watched the Beatles “Get Back” documentary a second time and seeing how the legendary band (in particular Lennon and McCartney) worked and reworked lyrics to make them work, I became determined to give lyrics another go. I reached out to a dear friend, a poet who has been committed to writing a new piece every day and with whom I often share feedback and encouragement and shared my frustration.
I was never going to be a musician, and I was never going to get together a group of musicians to bring my lyrics to life.
My poet friend connected me with another high school classmate and we, in turn, had a long conversation. While it didn’t offer resolution, it did stiffen my resolve. I began writing lyrics, this time with a little more direction and a little more focus. Then I came across an app that changed everything.
Now, if you’re in the “AI is evil” camp, feel free to bail out here. But if you’re willing to see what happens when a Navy father’s ideas meet AI tools, you might discover something surprisingly cool and fun.
I turned to an app called Suno and, long story short, figured out how to write prompts and manipulate the tool to bring my songs to life. Naturally, my experience as a military academy dad came to the forefront, in particular, two pieces related to my son’s experience as a crew member aboard the guided missile submarine, USS Florida.
And while I haven’t given these songs wide distribution, I wanted to share them, particularly with my Navy family. (and a special shout out to Steve Wade, AN Shine and Susan Weisberg, who gave these songs a pre-release listen)
The first – Ain’t No Sun (and We Don’t Care) – is pulled almost entirely (with the exception of the description of the captain) from conversations with my son. Don’t worry, there’s nothing that violates OPSEC.
🎶 Ain’t No Sun (and We Don’t Care) 🎶
The second – Midway Box Mystery – is a pretty light-hearted take on something I learned about before my son’s second deployment. His first happened before I was connected to the support group (or Ombudsman), but before the second trip, I got the email about midway boxes – imagine one of those Priority Mail boxes from the United States Postal Service jammed with everything from snacks to magazines, to gifts (Christmas, birthday, whatever). At about the halfway point of the deployment, they are distributed and the sailors have some extras for the remainder of their time at sea.
I thought I may have overdone it with that first one, filling it with some meaningful things (Gatorade-type packets, his favorite candy, a beautiful magazine about our national parks), but also some ridiculous items (a pair of Pop Tart socks to go with the actual Pop Tarts, a Hot Wheels of his favorite car). But when I saw him after that deployment, he was over the moon about every single item.
I also wanted to address the issue of lack of communication and, well, just not knowing. You can send emails to your submariner, but they only receive them when the boat is at periscope depth and even then, it’s a crapshoot. I wrote reams of emails that my son simply never received. / shoulder shrug / And you never know where they are or what they are doing, even when they get back. Typical response from my son about a tense situation he and his crew encountered – “we were in place and there were uninvited guests at the party, so we had to do some things to convince them to leave the party.”
So I enshrined the whole experience in this little ditty:
I’ve finished several other non-Navy related pieces, but these two will always be special to me. They were among the first and, obviously, deeply personal and meaningful. For those in the sub community – or soon joining – I hope they bring a smile to your face.
Semper Deep!
My Kid The Mid 