Peggy Dover

Life is full of possibilities if you’re on the lookout. An opportunity knocked to dress in costume and be the recorded script narrator on Jacksonville’s Haunted Trolley tour. I jumped at the chance to become somebody else and part of the “crew.”

The script involved the fateful train robbery attempt by the DeAutremont brothers that happened 100 years ago. I’ve always had a love affair with trains, so I decided to be a brakeman.

I visited Goodwill in hopes of finding baggy men’s clothes. I had the boots. Piling my hair on my head, I covered it with a beanie and a train hat from the Jacksonville Visitor Center. I wore no makeup. Brakemen do not wear makeup. I smudged my cheeks and nose with “soot,” and when there were no false mustaches to be found, I knew that large, fluttery eyelashes abound these days. I bought a cheap pair and stuck both of them on my upper lip. They served me well.

I wrapped a bandana around my neck thanks to Lynn Leissler, who played the perfect suffragette walking around town complete with a sign in favor of the women’s vote. For the finishing touch, I inserted a wrench and a pair of pliers in my pocket, hoping no one would ask me to fix anything.

When I sauntered up to the boarding area, folks didn’t recognize me, thank goodness. I mean, what if they would have said, “Hi, Peggy, how’s it going” with me looking like that. It would have hit me hard.

The strange thing is, once I was in full costume, the persona of Pat the Brakeman came easily. My voice fell an octave and sounded like someone from Enid, Oklahoma, possibly, whatever they sound like. It wasn’t my voice. I realized then that my hammish aspirations were not imagined. They lie at the corpuscle of my being. I get it from Dad.

Anyway, it was a wonderful experience, especially when I caught people staring at my lip. Most everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and clapped at the end of the tour. I’m already looking forward to next year.

More recently, Lane and I as myself took a serendipitous drive into the autumn majesty of the Applegate/Ruch area and stopped into a new tasting room. It’s called Crooked Barn Vineyards at 14430 Hwy. 238 and has been open only a few weeks.

Owners Heidi and Marcos Martins do it all. They tend about 5 acres of Bordeaux varietal grapes — merlot, malbec, cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon — all luscious reds. Marcos enjoys the chemistry involved in making his own wine and obviously loves people.

Originally from Brazil, they came to America 32 years ago and made a fine life for themselves in the Bay Area, but an earthy adventure called to them. The missing quotient was discovered on 40 farmable acres in the Applegate. Read more about them at Crooked Barn Vineyards on the web.

A very personable couple, Marcos and Heidi saw to several eager customers they had that day. Heidi brought us each a small bowl of Goldfish to munch. Oh, not the swimming kind, silly. The crunchy, edible kind. A five varietal tasting fee is $15 (waived for two-bottle purchase). Tastings are offered in the same building where production happens. All five reds are delicious, and I had trouble choosing a favorite. Maybe it was the cab franc, but each had distinct notes.

This time of year, tiny fruit flies demonstrate their fondness for the grape, as well. It doesn’t matter what winery you’re at, if you’re near production, the flies will horn in and even take a swim in your wine glass if you’re not given little screens to cover them, as they provide at Crooked Barn. For their customers’ further entertainment, they had a handy bug-zapping wand that was quite effective at ending the flies’ brazen behavior and encouraging camaraderie among the guests.

I highly recommend a visit. Crooked Barn (there is one) is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday through Sunday.