From the Author
?? Why the sub-title: "tangled dreams and Telemark keys" ?? Women in my family were strong survivors; they outlived their hard-working farmer husbands by decades. Now, together, we meet in my dreams and we find clues, a message, a solution for me. Their strength and stubborness is mine. I am proud of them. I would not dare complain about my trivialities when the grit on their photo faces demonstrates how I should carry my worries with dignity.
On an old farm in Telemark, Norway, I will find my great-grandmother's key which will tell me just who I have the potential to be. She loved solitude as well as the company of people. She loved livestock and intricate needlework. She loved dirt and flowers. The endless ocean and the strange, flat prairie did not scare her. Because of her, I am blessed to be a child of the Dakotas. I have an ear for the language of animals; my heart dances with the tree-songs in the restless winds.
My book overflows with pictures, poems and stories celebrating nature: the magic of the woods, the secrets of the prairie, the wisdom of dogs, the guidance of stars. My travel journals from trips to Norway and Europe in the 1970's have been received with much enthusiasm because they capture an innocence and corny humor which is not easy to find these days. My book has a little bit for everyone!
About the Author
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.
