Beaver Creek Blues: tangled dreams and Telemark keys - Tapa blanda

Trees cry, dance, whisper and protect us. Birds are flying ovations for reincarnations from the highlands of curious places. Dog noses know. Trust them. They fence the wind's four quarters, engrave our secrets as their very own treasure, and they know who the boogie man is. Inanimate objects are sad when they're left alone, happiest when they're not broken, and when they are old, they give comfort. This is the innocence in which the author was born; it is the magic that lifts her spirit over the temporal world. Travel through these pages to a 19th century farm in Telemark. Ride the train with three wide-eyed girls through Europe. Visit an old farmer whose faith is in the taste of soil and the fellowship of livestock. Fill your lungs with vigorous breezes stirred by eagle wings. Listen, learn, and wash your soul in powerful river voices. Travel by rainbow, by pinecone, by riddling rock. Follow a mossy trail to the mouth of a dragon, and let the red light of Mars guide your way home. The author states: "I love painting pictures with words. A peaceful little farm in North Dakota was the sanctuary where imagination took its first spin around my head. There were no other kids to play with, so my world of adventure was the winding creek, the ash tree jungle, wildlife, barn pets, Mom's spooky attic and the great graveyard of flying farm machines. Mom encouraged me to exercise my God-given skills. Dad inspired me, by loving nature and family more than anything. On this little farm, the heartbeat of nature accompanied every day. This is the root of my smile; this is the place I visit at night when I dream." Through poetry, prose and amusing travel journals, this book is the expression - the rite of passage - of one good-hearted Norwegian/American who hugs nature happily and desperately.

Sherie grew up on the corner of Golden Lake and Beaver Creek Townships, rural Sharon, North Dakota. She earned a B.A. in English and Sociology at UND in 1978, moved to Sacramento, California and spent many years as a work skills counselor/trainer for handicapped adults. Sherie's first writing for the public eye was through editorials in her high school newspaper. At UND, she won the Gladys Boen Literary Award for poetry in 1976. She continued to write frivolous verse for friends and family until her first poem was published in Bloodroot magazine, spring 1978. Bounced around in the lonely backseat of life, Sherie's muse patiently rode the rough patch of divorce and career changes. After years as a bus driver for the handicapped, Sherie got an office job and now works as a bookkeeper for a tool manufacturer. Sherie and her cat, ToFisk, married Kevin and his dog, Ashley, in 1987 on the boat Touch¿ in the San Francisco Bay. In 1991, they settled in northern Idaho where Ashley and ToFisk's spirits moved on. The family grew with the adoption of three beautiful dogs (Ruby, Simba and Roscoe) and three spunky cats (Sabrina, MeeOdo and Maybelline). They live on a six-acre patch at the western edge of the St. Joe and Coeur d'Alene mountain ranges, where Sherie rediscovered her muse, nestled-in with the native creatures of the pure and mystical woods. In 2000 and 2001, Sherie published two poems in a compilation by The International Library of Poetry. In 2004, she won first prize in a contest by Innervision Poetry Group in Spokane, WA, which opened the door to this publication, "Beaver Creek Blues." Sherie can be reached at beavercreek.blues@yahoo.com.