C.J.: WCCO-TV's Edward Moody III cuts back on work so he can enjoy life

We'll be seeing a little less of WCCO-TV's charming Edward Moody III because he wants to smell the roses and perhaps enjoy the bees.

Viewers have noticed.

"Where is Edward Moody? I miss his bubbly personality," e-mailed reader "Jerry Fisher." A reader identified as "Will Laman" wrote: "We have not seen Ed Moody of WCCO-TV for some time. Any idea why?"

Moody joined WCCO in 2012 as a reporter and weekend anchor, but he recently "asked to go part time, so I could reconnect with my REAL life. I'd been hopping around the country for about a decade, and maybe two years ago I realized I'd basically missed 10 years of the lives of the people I love, chasing this dream. So now I'm using the extra time to be with my partner Up North and see my mom, aunt and grandmother more."

The Kansas City, Mo., native got "the journalism bug" at age 10, according to his station bio. He was hired as an anchor/reporter for "The What's Up Network," a nationally syndicated, now-defunct, Emmy-winning show for kids. Chasing the dream has included stops in Duluth and Indianapolis.

"I didn't want to totally step away from my career, but I needed to pull back," Moody told me when I tracked him down Monday. "Some people can balance a demanding career and personal life, but I wasn't doing it so well." As part of this change, Moody has given up his weekend anchor chair.

A few weeks ago when Twitter's @EdwardMoodyIII was reporting a story about honey, I sent a tweet asking if some bees had set up camp on his face. Wanted him to know that I had spied that almost imperceptible goatee. Moody told me it was an experiment. Others noticed, too.

There was a shocking display of self-control Saturday by WCCO-TV's Mr. Social Media when he dined at Red Cow, the neighborhood tavern.

I was lunching with Twin Cities lifestyle expert Ross Sveback when he noticed over my shoulder that Jason DeRusha had walked in with his family.

"They are being seated in the bar," Sveback told me. I told Twitter's @sveback (look, Ross, I think I got the right Sveback this time) that I would go mess with DeRusha after we finished sampling the menu. I probably had my hands in Sveback's sweet potato fries with the delicious smoked pepper aioli when Ross called my attention to DeRusha, wife, Alyssa, and young sons, Seth and Sam, leaving the bar area for a table where we were seated. Not only did DeRusha's danger meter not pick up my presence, his back was mostly to me and his phone was on the table where I could see it.

City Pages' 2014 "Best TV Newscaster" was enjoying the company and conversation of family and didn't touch his phone once.

When I walked up behind unsuspecting DeRusha and complimented this remarkable behavior, even Mrs. DeRusha seemed impressed with his restraint.

Dan Le Batard responded: "This is what I am: I am surprised Rick Adelman and Sid Hartman are still doing work in Minnesota, as I hear this."

Coach Adelman has since made it official: He's retiring.

C.J. can be reached at cj@startribune.com and seen on Fox 9's "Buzz." E-mailers, please state a subject; "Hello" does not count. Attachments are not opened.