COWS VS BANANA TREES

Adjusting to my “beach house in a cow pasture” in rural South Carolina included an ongoing Spy vs. Spy engagement with stray cows coming over from down the road. I couldn’t really blame them—my land had once been theirs. But they seemed dead set on getting into my banana trees (important reminders of the life I’d had before). You remember Spy vs. Spy in Mad Magazine don’t you?

beach house in a cow pasture Spy vs. Spy in Mad Magazine

Bad things happened, an entire run of them that shut me down, caused me to withdraw from everything except my inner self.

One afternoon, in a hammock, I took a photo of myself. Just my legs. But there was no one to send it to. No one to understand.

I needed a sidekick so I sketched an armadillo because they’re crusty on the outside but not within. I made him my butler. Crusoe’s manservant Friday.

We began interacting—my hammock photo speaking to that critter, that critter speaking back.There’s a folder of cartoons somewhere. For now there’s just this one. (LINK)

Eventually after that I began writing novels.

I’m still a hermit, marooned you might say, but leaving my shell more and more—my inner self seeking its freedom through writing.