OKLAHOMA!

      Saw the musical, have heard the famous song... never visited the state. So it was a real pleasure to go there this last weekend and attend the Oklahoma Book Festival in Oklahoma City. The weather was... not for the faint of heart. Rainy and windy in the morning and far from warm, then broiling and windy in the afternoon. But, judging from the readers I met, Oklahoma grows great people.
     And what an interesting history! Everything from a land rush and oil to gangsters. I found it all fascinating.
     I especially found it fascinating staying in the historic Skirvin Hotel. I learned that the hotel has a ghost! A maid named Effie who, according to legend, was not treated well by Mr. Skirvin and jumped from a window along with her baby. She is said to haunt the 13th floor and it is claimed that you can often hear a baby crying on that floor. It is also claimed that Effie doesn't like men (and that she took out her wrath on an unsuspecting pro basketball player from a visiting team). I'm glad I'm a woman. I'm also glad I wasn't staying on that floor!
     I'm especially glad I got to visit this state and experience a very wonderful book festival.