Backpackin'

 Sherri. Trailname Mudpie 

They call me mudpie.

Because when I work or I play, I love to get down into it, whether it's into the dirt of the land I'm gardening, the fur of the pet I'm tending, the mind of the student I'm tutoring, the reef on which I'm diving, or the heart of the woods I'm interpreting.

 I am a Florida native and I grew up with a love of learning, of animals and of the outdoors. My mother was a Nature's Classroom teacher, and I was raised in rural Plant City. I love to teach and I love to learn.

I have an associate degree in Zoological Parks Technology - which means I'm trained as a zookeeper and wildlife parks manager - and I've been a veterinary assistant at the University of Florida Veterinary Medicine Teaching Hospital Zoological Medicine Ward in Gainesville, a volunteer with the Audubon Center for Birds of Prey in Maitland, a zookeeper at Walt Disney World's Discovery Island and an animal keeper for the Smithsonian Institute's Department of Zoological Research in  Washington, D.C.

Since 1994 I have also worked at Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo, where I  have  facilitated overnight educational programs for adult and children’s groups.  I have conducted  educational camping programs  at the Green Swamp Wilderness Preserve highlighting Red Wolf conservation. For many summers I taught snorkeling and marine ecology to children in a marine biology/aquatics camp. I'm a horseback rider, a backpacker, a hiker, a certified SCUBA diver and a kayaker. I can hitch and drive a team of horses.

I'm also certified to teach Middle School Math. I have a B.S. in elementary education from the University of South Florida and I have been a middle school teacher for over 10 years. I have always had a love for numbers, and I enjoy helping children "get" math.

When I was 16 I went to Chile as an exchange student and lived with what became my Chilean family for a year. I am fluent in Spanish, love Hispanic cultures and have become a pretty cook Latin cook. For eight years during my first marriage my Spanish-speaking husband and I ran a tour business in the United States catering to people from Latin America. We spoke Spanish in the home and in the business.

I began backpacking with Richard and fell in love with it right away. We have a dream to thruhike the Appalachian Trail, southbound from Maine to Georgia so we can take our sweet time and earn the coveted "longest thruhike ever" award.

Richard. Trailname Sailor

I am called Sailor because when I get tired and frustrated I curse like one. 

 In my life I have worked as a massage therapist, personal trainer, newspaper reporter, freelance writer, editor, handyman, chef, mechanic,  electrician’s helper,  bureaucrat and bartender. For a time I considered becoming a monk and I spent four months in a monastery.

I thrive in an environment of cooperation, that places people ahead of profits, that practices ethical standards,  that emphasizes teaching rather than testing. I shrivel n an environment that practices high pressure sales, that values paperwork over people, that encourages competition rather than cooperation and that expects me to lie. I am lucky in that I am currently employed as a massage therapist in a chiropractic office run and staffed by people who value what I do.

Before entering massage school, I worked as a counselor for 12 years. My name then was Richard Kent. Most of my work was with addicts and codependents, and I dealt a great deal with people who had suffered various kinds of emotional trauma.

When Sherri and I  married we decided that I would reclaim part of my family heritage, change my name from Kent back to Katz and combine that with Sherri’s family name, Brown – and, so, Brownkatz.

We have a grown daughter who is an esthetician, massage therapist and yoga instructor. We also have a cat named Tailless who pretty much runs everything.

I have been physically active all of my life. I love the outdoors, especially canoeing and backpacking, and I love working out.