10 Things You Don’t Know About Me

Sharing and getting to know the Salt Path Journey peeps

Ok, my fellow Salt Path Journey peeps, and other always-welcomed Medium readers. Here it is 10 (more) amazing facts about your truly.

1. Held up the Raiders plane in Buffalo: While traveling as a sports writer for the Antelope Valley Press, my luggage was misplaced and I was sprinting around the airport — ala O.J. Simpson (pre-murderer O.J.) — frantically seeking my belongs. Inside was the newspaper’s laptop. The Raiders were in no mood to wait having lost to my beloved Bills, 38–24. I sweated the whole flight home. Luckily a good Samaritan sent it back a week later.
2. I’m a sixth-grade English teacher: I love teaching writing, and reading novels and joking around during class. Oh, and, of course, Scot Butwell, listen to classic Rock music to inspire my nostalgic memoirs.
3. Married with four kids: We’ve been married 15 years (on April 2) and have four kids: Reece, 29 (youth pastor), Bryce, 23, Brady, 20, and Brenna, 18.
4. Running kids: Y’all know how much I love sports, right? I write about it often. Nope. Never ran. Yet, all of my children — except Reece — ran cross country and track in high school. (Reece was a “running” quarterback for Wheaton College in Illinois).
5. Bohemian Rhapsody: If It comes on the television, I’m watching it. Period. End of discussion. Any part, anytime. I especially like the climactic ending and Freddy Mercury singing “Radio Ga Ga” at Wembley Stadium.
6. I love 80s music a lot: Almost all of it, but especially Tears for Fears, Van Halen, Def Lepard, Quiet Riot, the Police, .38 Special. And as Casey Kasem would say, “The number one song is ‘Rock of Ages,’ ” my pump-up song for high-school baseball. The only groups that I am not a fan of are REM and Dead or Alive. Bleck!
7. Married in Hawaii: And almost drowned, too. My ex-brother-in-law took us to some weird, remote beach with these crazy swirling waves with a devil-like mind of their own. My oldest son and I were barely able to survive and swim away from them.
8. I was a country DJ: Yee-haw! Besides the occasionally Rascal Flatts, I’m the furthest thing from a country music fan, yet I bravely walked into the downtown Vermillion country radio station and got the job. (I think I only lasted there a few weeks, though. Oh, it’s a story for another day).
9. Crave-worthy Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups: My Achilles heel. Keep them away from me or I will seriously eat a whole bag. Morning, noon, or night. Hell, 3 a.m., too. My all-time fave candy bar none (pardon the pun).
10. My first job was a newspaper delivery boy on an orange moped: Yep, they called me Moped Mike. I’d rise at 5 a.m. to deliver the Argus Leader throughout vast and windy Vermillion, South Dakota rain, snow, sun, or freezing cold. Oh, the best part is I got first dibs on the agate page to tally up all the points in our fantasy baseball league (yes, that was actually a thing back in 1983!)

Road trip is right Jane Kelley!

As long as you let me pick a few songs from my “Radical Roadtrip Playlist.” Is that okay, Scot?

Scot Butwell, my bro, is organizing The Salt Path Journey. A band of merry writers on Medium is trekking along with him, packed with Reese’s peanut butter cups and Dum Dums. Our mission is to each read the Salt Path and write as we go.

I’m tagging fellow Salt Path peeps who are on board for The Salt Path Journey so we can get to know each other a tad better. Join us and/or follow along. Enjoy the ride, er, walk of a lifetime. It sounds like fun and a fantastic voyage! (Another song reference for Scot, one of his all faves, too. Hope he’s okay with me dropping a song reference here. LOL!)

Scot Butwell, Evon, janice mcdonald, Klara Jane Holloway, C.A. Jaymes, Angie Mangino, The Sober Vegan Yogi.

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