By MONTE DUTTON

I’ve not been a globetrotter. I’ve not even been a county trotter. Or a trotter at all. I did drive to Newberry on Wednesday, though, for a long overdue visit with a friend.

Dr. Jodie Peeler, communications program director at Newberry College, and I had lunch at Characters, a new eating place on Wilson Road (U.S. 76). Jodie wrote a fine biography of television pioneer Dave Garroway, the originator of Today, at NBC in 1952. I highly recommend Peace: The Wide, Wide World of Dave Garroway, Television’s Original Master Communicator (2023).

Jodie and I share many interests: country music, NASCAR, old movies and TV among them.

The food was great and the conversation greater. Afterwards, she showed me the upgrades at the Wolves’ Setzler Field. I told her about some local kids who are now enrolled at Newberry.

I drove down to Newberry on I-26 but returned to Clinton on U.S. 76 for about 20 of its 548 miles. Mainly I reminisced about what is still there and what is gone. I was driving on it when I learned of Elvis Presley’s death. I passed a farm where we loaded some cattle my father had bought. Two-lane roads are fertile territory for vivid memories.

Waiting for my financial plans to come to fruition, I’ve been desperately scratching by. As I’ve noted before, I’ve been buying gas $10 worth at a time. This time I got $20, so I guess that’s progress.

I still think a lot about how I traveled all over the country for 20 years writing about NASCAR. Now most of my travel involves the Clinton Red Devils and Furman Paladins. Football is getting underway. It won’t be long until I’m wheeling to such colorful locales as Woodruff, Chesnee and Blacksburg.

On Thursday morning, I stopped at Presbyterian College to take some photos of the first Blue Hose football practice. Head coach Steve Englehart is getting his recently repaired back into shape and trying to remember not to trot across the field.

I love watching football players practice.

The Environmental Protection Agency is discontinuing most protection. My Republican friends think it’s just not hot enough.

I am remiss in not expressing my sorrow at the loss of Hulk Hogan. I know I’m outside the mainstream. I don’t like pro wrestling. I think I was once at the same NASCAR race Hogan was. There may have been a media conference.

Forgive me. Many years ago, I wrote a story about Wahoo McDaniel. He told me the worst mistake of his career was becoming “a bad guy.” He showed me a scar on his arm where a disappointed fan fan stabbed him on the way into the ring. Never again, he said. The fans wouldn’t accept it. The next weekend, he became a bad guy again.

This time I said never again.

I am certainly not typical in my interests. Soap operas are going out of style. I’ve never watched them.

I don’t care for reality shows because there’s precious little of it in them.

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