FREDONIA GRAPEVINE

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These are Fredonia grapes, one of two other species kept with the Catawbas in Pineapple Hill’s wee vineyard. They have a “grape-ier” flavor than the Catawbas.

A hybrid Euro-wild varital, Catawbas have a hint of what I call vanilla, others call “musky”.

My grape growing hasn’t gone too well—no surprise given that I once killed a twenty-seven-year-old Bonsai plant in just a few weeks.

My winemaking is pretty shaky too. Friends call me the “new Paul Newman of salad dressing.”

Having lived mostly in cities, I like telling people I live on a farm now.

When they ask what I’m growing, I say “Patience.”

Fredonia grapevine Paul Newman of salad Dressing Pineapple Hill

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.