JONESVILLE YACHT CLUB/MARITIME LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

It may take thousands of years and gobzillions of dollars but I continue to dream of a Jonesville Yacht Club/Maritime Library and Museum for our little crossroads of a community out here in the South Carolina boonies. Shown here is the anchor windlass off a wooden ketch built in 1929 and the wheel is from a different vintage boat.

anchor windlass off a wooden ketch Jonesville Yacht Club Maritime Library and Museum

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.