LILLIAN CROOK: WildDakotaWoman — British Virgin Islands, Part I
British Virgin Islands is an archipelago of more than 60 islands, with 21 national parks. We stayed on Tortola (visiting the high point in Sage Mountain National Park). We took many taxi rides and two ferry rides and also visited Virgin Gorda (more of the BVI National Parks there) and Beef Island. Lots of swimming, rum, birding, exploring, eating and …
LILLIAN CROOK: WildDakotaWoman — Lillian’s Travel Rules And Observations, No. 4
No. 1 On the Virgin Islands, they drive on the left side of the road. No. 2 There is on the part of drivers a lot of honking. No. 3 The tourists from the USA talk a LOT and listen a LITTLE. No. 4 The people who live in the islands are friendly and helpful and want to teach people …
LILLIAN CROOK: WildDakotaWoman — St. John And U.S. Virgin Islands National Park
From Red Hook, a ferry to Cruz Bay, St. John. Much of the island belongs to me (— and to all citizens of the USA — because it is Virgin Islands National Park. Cruz Bay seems like managed chaos. Taxis (trucks that seat multiple passengers, some call “safari taxis”) serve as transport for visitors. Some visitors rent cars — or …
LILLIAN CROOK: WildDakotaWoman — St. Thomas Via Cape Air And Some Interesting Taxi Rides
So we arrive in the U.S. Virgin Islands via an eight-seater prop plane (flawlessly flown by a young woman) from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to St. Thomas. 3here we take many more taxi rides on the left side of the road, where my birding resumes, where we swim at Caribbean beaches, where we eat local food, where we spend a …
LILLIAN CROOK: WildDakotaWoman — Dispatches From A Retired Woman Traveling, Now In The USVI, Where today I Visited Oppenheimer Beach
Also I saw more lizards and a tarantula and went swimming in the Caribbean and am now sipping on a Painkiller (sprinkled with nutmeg). I hope to bring little Lily here someday and my daughter, Chelsea. More birding to do. Oppenheimer ‘s daughter donated the house to the island of St. John.
LILLIAN CROOK: WildDakotaWoman — Lillian’s Travel Rules
No. 1 Don’t be a jerk. No. 2 Don’t be a drunken and loud jerk. No. 3 Don’t litter. No. 4 Wash your derned hands. No. 5 Rinse and repeat back to No. 1.
LILLIAN CROOK: WildDakotaWoman — San Juan, Part Quatro
Buy local food and art and such. Wear sunscreen.
LILLIAN CROOK: WildDakotaWoman — San Juan, Part Tres
Take a taxi or Uber or walk is my advice. Chat respectfully with the locals, etc. Thank the people who preserve the customs and language and places and critters. Obey the rules and laws. Don’t be rude.
LILLIAN CROOK: WildDakotaWoman — Buenos Dios Puerto Rico, Adios Biscayne Bay National Park
Goodbye Miami. Biscayne Bay National Park Institute boat tour to Boca Chita Key. White Ibis. Sea turtles, manatees, Royal Tern, Iguanas, Prairie Warbler.
LILLIAN CROOK: WildDakotaWoman — The Family Gulbranson Piano
It is coming up on three years now since my beloved Mom died. Long before then, she and I were collaborating on an essay about the family piano — and because I think it is a darned good story, I am finally getting around to writing it. The Gulbranson piano was purchased by my great-aunt, Dora, who was a registered nurse. …
LILLIAN CROOK: WildDakotaWoman — An Open Letter To N.D. Legislators And Others Who Care About People Living With Disabilities
February 4, 2025 Mary Anderson, ED ABLE Inc. 1951 1st Street West Dickinson, ND 58601 Dear Mary, Thank you for contacting me regarding ABLE’s purchase of the Sullivan Apartments, in which my daughter, Rachel, has lived and thrived for many years now. I applaud ABLE for taking action to secure this, and other buildings in western ND, including The Landing …
LILLIAN CROOK: WildDakotaWoman — Chelsea Sorenson, DSU Vocal Performance Lab 2011
Back to my theme of women’s music. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44eaMdnjDM0 Ahem, that’s my daughter, Chelsea, singing. I’m so grateful I was able to attend her performances, etc. Goodness knows, I attended countless school programs and recitals and lessons.
LILLIAN CROOK: WildDakotaWoman — Prairie Public
I read with dismay the reports that a Fargo legislator has introduced a bill in the 2025 North Dakota legislative session to zero out funding for Prairie Public. I have been listening to Prairie Public Radio and watching programs on Prairie Public TV since the day it launched, when I was a young and broke college student in western North …
LILLIAN CROOK: WildDakotaWoman — Beta Stanzas
Poems by members of Beta Stanza of the North Dakota Poetry Society. And tucked inside my copy of this gem of a book.
LILLIAN CROOK: WildDakotaWoman — My Knoepfla Recipe
Saute chopped onions (until the onions are soft) and shredded carrots in a little butter. Add small pieces of chicken. Cook a bit, but don’t overcook. Add chicken broth. (I prefer Penzey’s concentrated chicken broth.) Simmer. Add a dash of lemon juice, a few grinds of pepper, parsley and a little bit of tomato paste (for umami). Maybe a little …
LILLIAN CROOK: WildDakotaWoman — Elkhorn Ranch
From the Dana Monroe Wright Collection at the State Historical Society of North Dakota. Dana Monroe Wright was born on Aug. 30, 1878, in Eaton Rapids, Mich. He moved with his parents to farm near Jamestown, N.D., in 1882, and left that area in 1898 to enlist in the North Dakota National Guard. Wright served in the military during the …
LILLIAN CROOK: WildDakotaWoman — Today’s Music I’ve Been Listening
Cat Stevens and Eddie Vedder 2016 And the late great B.B. King (who grew up in the same area in Mississippi as my late father). If you are in the Indianola area, I highly recommend a visit to the B.B. King Museum. And because I was young in the 1970s, there is always the epic Eagles “Hotel California.” Yes, I have watched the …
LILLIAN CROOK: WildDakotaWoman — More Music, This Time My Daughter, Chelsea Sorenson … And A Little Linda Ronstadt clip
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axVmpvz6VcQ Chelsea Sorenson, Senior Solo for Vocal Performance Degree at Dickinson State University, 2009 (above). Shot by me, her proud mother (the little coughs are her twin sister sitting next to me in Dorothy Stickney Auditorium). And this is why I describe Chelsea as a bit of a “piano snob” — I’ve known she had perfect pitch since she was …
LILLIAN CROOK: WildDakotaWoman — On The Hill Of Murdered Scout, St. Peter’s Spring
On finding an old map in the State Historical Society of North Dakota Archives: Somewhere near the Turtle Mountains. By the La Butte Mark, by the “Half Breed Road”. On the Des Lac River. East of the La Roche. Northeast of Strawberry Island on the Missouri River. North of the Little Knife River. North of the White Earth River. North …
LILLIAN CROOK: WildDakotaWoman — More Music, This Time Rosanne Cash
The Good Intent Essays
LILLIAN CROOK: WildDakotaWoman — Canadian Musicians
The Parting Glass Martin Kerr Curious Heart
LILLIAN CROOK: WildDakotaWoman — Southwind In April
The other thing I am doing. SOUTHWIND IN APRIL by Paul S. Bliss
LILLIAN CROOK: WildDakotaWoman — A Warm January Day
Well, it was warm in my kitchen at Red Oak House. Playtime January 2025
LILLIAN CROOK: WildDakotaWoman — While I’m On The Topic Of Music And Musicians
“Battlefield” by Nanci Griffith
LILLIAN CROOK: WildDakotaWoman — The Crook Siblings Gather For Meatloaf
(Above) Wayne Thomas, son of Mozelle Ellis Thomas, and Garland Crook, son of Lena Bell Ellis Crook, 8 months old, Friendship, Miss., 1925. Lena Bell and Mozelle were sisters. Garland and Wayne were their first babies. Sarah, Thomas, Lillian and Beckie, January 2025 Golly it was fun to have the four of us together for a meal. Jim tolerated us …
LILLIAN CROOK: WildDakotaWoman — Twenty-Five Years Ago
Twenty-five years ago, it was the beginning of a new millennium. When I thought you read books. When I thought you didn’t watch much television. When I thought you hiked. When I thought you watched the stars. When I thought you liked poetry. When I slept on the ground. Before social media. When I was young. Twenty-five years ago I …
LILLIAN CROOK: WildDakotaWoman — My Dad’s And Mom’s 8mm Films From The 1950s And 1960s
And that’s all folks, that’s the last of the 8mm films my Dad shot in the 1950s and 1960s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ae3Gu33SQo&t=1s My mother bought the 8mm camera and a projector by saving Green Stamps. Remember those? Here are my mother’s annotations. The film is not in chronological order. I don’t care. Don’t watch if the fact that this stuff is out …
LILLIAN CROOK: WildDakotaWoman — Lay You Down In A Cattail Bed
My friend, Chuck Suchy. Lay You Down In a Cattail Bed
LILLIAN CROOK: WildDakotaWoman — May You All Have A Mother As I Did, Part 1
One of the video interviews I did with my Mother in her elder years.
LILLIAN CROOK: WildDakotaWoman — El Monte, California, 1958
This is a homage to California. The humble abode in which my parents lived in El Monte in 1958 before they moved the little house trailer to Ellsworth Air Force Base. When they left California, pulling the trailer, with (then) two little kids and another on the way, they headed across the desert, skirting around the mountains, heading in a …
LILLIAN CROOK: WildDakotaWoman — My Late Mother’s Last Birthday Party
She was so much fun. This was taken at her last birthday party. But I have more.
LILLIAN CROOK: WildDakotaWoman — Pullin’ Calves
This is an original essay by Lillian Crook, Dickinson State College English seminar writing course required submission for Senior Level Course credit (1981). This had been a bad year, lots of snow and ice and that terrible cold wind. More new calves than ever had died, and if he had to watch one more not pull through, Maggie knew she …
LILLIAN CROOK: WildDakotaWoman — Winter
1977. 1978. Spring Lake ice fishing (southwest of Rhame, N.D.), 1971. Earl and Lena Belle Crook visit the Slope County farm, 1973. El Paso, Texas (Marian, Sarah, Thomas, and The White Cat.) Garland Crook and his son, Thomas, visiting Vaiden, Miss. Garland Crook, back in South Korea for the second time. The Crook kids in El Paso, Texas. Jasper Earl …
LILLIAN CROOK: WildDakotaWoman — Penance Playlist 2025
Penance Playlist 2025 Mother Maybelle Carter. Nanci Griffith (everything she ever wrote and sang and recorded and performed). Sara Watkins. Lucinda Williams. Brandi Carlisle. Gillian Welch. Phoebe Snow. Carly Simon. Tanya Savory. Joni Mitchell. Patty Loveless. Katie Lee. Celeste Krenz. Lucy Kaplansky. Sarah Jarosz. Janis Ian. Tanya Tucker. Billie Holiday. Loretta Lynn. Tish Hinojosa. Iris DeMent. Shawn Colvin. Dolly Parton. …