Tayari's Blog: Report From the Road: Nebraska
Posted by TayariJones on October 27, 2008 07:53 AM
Filed under
Book Tour
My trip to Nebraska turned out to be really fun time, despite the cold, wet weather. My host, Joy Castro, was a terrific sport and 
took me out on a cold and blustery day to look for buffalo. (I am such a tourist sometimes.) When we got to the park, the bison just sort of minded their own business really far from the fence. I whistled and cajoled, but they didn't budge. I couldn't get a good photo-- let alone pet them. I did get to see a huge statue on the center of a grassy prairie. (The love themselves some statues in Nebraska.) The trippy part was the the statue buffalo was *ahem* anatomically correct. I called it the boyfalo.
The next day began with a lovely lunch with Timothy Schaffert, director of the Nebraska Summer Writers Conference. I had a terrific meeting with a cluster of graduate students. I love talking craft with folks who are serious about what they do.
The last thing on the agenda was the reading. (Go to Joy for details.) I knew it was going to be a good night when I walked in the door and was greeted by two of the cutest little girls who ever wore afro puffs! Another good omen is that the caterers served red-velvet cupcakes. Y'all know red velvet is my totem treat!
I just loved the students at University of Nebraska and also their terrific professors. The little fellow you see here is Quentin, only six weeks old. His mom, Bianca, went into labor in one of her English classes. She hasn't missed a beat and as you can see, she knows the key to building life long readers is to start them young.
Afterwards, we stopped for cocktails. I was feeling pretty festive, so I went with a champagne cocktail. A fitting ending for a sparkling evening.
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