"Crazy Woman Creek"

Fifteen women contributors gathered to read and sign "Crazy Woman Creek" books Wednesday at the Center for Great Plains Studies in Lincoln, NE. I was one of them and it was a good first experience to both read and to meet the other writers. In fact it was very enjoyable.

The place was called the Great Plains Art Collection but the term on the brochure says it is the Center for Great Plains Studies and was called one of the Paul Olson Seminars. The room was walled with artwork from the region. At the corner entrance were bronze sculptures of the Lewis and Clark, a magnificant Indian, the little Sacajawea, and the Newfoundland dog. To the north of the door was a beautiful young homestead woman in a bed of natural prairie grasses and flowers that haven't been wasted by a frost yet. They both were beautiful scenes in our American prairies.

There seemed to be almost 200 that attended the event. I tried to have good eye contact with my audience, but I couldn't bring myself to look directly at WILLIAM KLOEFKORN who is such a distinguished poet in Nebraska. If he is even a little bit as personable as his pretty wife, both of us could have dealt with it. Instead I gazed at some of the harmless looking students who were taking notes. I, too, have had that kind of class assignment. It would be nice to get a look at their notes. There would be an honest critique for a wanna-be writer. A person would know right there whether to go back to the cello or spend more time with a camera.


He Who Must Be Obeyed drove me there, with 20 minutes to spare.. I wonder what he really thought when he saw me in this setting instead of flailing on my back, in the back yard pulling weeds, or chasing dirt with a wool duster on a stick.