This is post number 334.  It seems like 1000.  It seems like 54.

Time has moved quickly since I began this endeavor in July of 2014.  There have been the best of times to report on and there have been the worst of times to report on.  Either way, it has been fun.  I have been asked why I do this writing for no pay.  Not so, I tell my money-hungry never writes.  It is just what I do.

Ever since I was a youngster I have been writing something.  I remember a poem I wrote at my great-grandmother’s house in Brownstown when I was a kid.  It was called “The Silver Dragon”.  It was about her toaster.  I started writing songs when I was a teenager.  I didn’t acknowledge that being a remote possibility until I picked up a guitar at age 29 and learned to form chords that I could merge with words and make a reasonable sound.

I wrote a poem that appeared in my high school yearbook on the football page.  I doubt that has happened very often.  When it was type-set the editor of the book made an error in the verbiage and…well…screwed it up.  I don’t know if they were mad at me or just plain were negligent.  In earnest, I didn’t care much at the time and care even less now.  I knew what it was about then and I know what it is about now.  Either way it worked out.  I am still writing.

I had a few teachers over the years encourage me with my writing.  They were kind.  They were also honest…I hope.  I was told my writing reflected a sensibility beyond my years when I wrote a piece about the movie “Brain’s Song” that we watched for a Sports Literature class.  I was told on other occasions that my writing lacked depth when writing reports of other things I was not quite as interested in.

So what am I interested in?

I am interested in family.  That has been a theme that has shown itself here on many occasions.  Whether writing about my immediate family, my extended family, or my kinfolk in the South, I always enjoy writing about family.  In the fall of 2014 I chronicled the demise of my Granny.  It helped me in a cathartic way.  I think it helped others around me too.

I am interested in travelling.  My dear wife, Carrie, and I are fortunate.  We have been many places.  We never tire of getting in the car and heading for the open road….even if it leads to many of the places we have been before.

The North Carolina shore if our favorite destination.

I enjoy writing about friends.  I am blessed to have good friends.  Some have left us and some are still here.  I still get a great deal of mileage out of telling stories about things that me and my cronies experienced over the years.

Me and Jerry Brown.  He is the oldest friend I have that has shown up on speaktherights.com.  We go back a VERY long way.

I have enjoyed writing about football.  After all, I do pick the college games every week.  And I need to do better with that.   The high school football scene to has been great fodder for speaking the rights.

Being in Knoxville for the UT-Bama game was something to behold.

I have to write about music.  I make music.  I think in musical rhythm.  No one has had more fun with music than I have.  Singing for others.  Going to concerts.  Recording tunes.  I have been blessed.

Seeing The Moody Blues at Red Rocks is still the king of concerts for me.

I have written about my job as an educator.  I am so blessed to have had the opportunity to work with so many great people and be able to help so many kids wade through the ever-changing, ever-confusing education process in this country.  My hat is off to all of them.

With 4th grades at Indianapolis Motor Speedway where I got to…

Kiss the yard of bricks.

I have been speaking the rights about a fortunate life.  Thanks goes to all of you!

Speaking the rights…

Danny Johnson