THE VENUS FLY TRAP IS NATIVE TO SOUTH CAROLINA

I joke about dinosaurs, Great White Sharks, the Carolina Lizard Man, and other strange things in the Jonesville Reservoir (aka The Jonesville Town Pond—a forty-acre lake through the woods behind Pineapple Hill). I say its water is under the spell of an ancient Native American shaman. Now I can add giant Venus Fly Traps too.

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.