Library Appearance

Riddle:  What is it that, when given, must be kept?

Yesterday was my birthday and I was given an unusual gift: a big audience.  I had agreed some months ago to speak at the public library in Maple Grove, a nice suburb of Minneapolis.  I’ve been doing these paid appearances for some while, and generally get an audience of a dozen or so.  Yesterday evening there were exactly fifty people present, not counting me or the three Friends of the Library women who organized the event.  It went really well.  I have a new front end of my talk, in which I explain why we tell stories.  A New Zealand professor of English, Brian Boyd, has written a marvelous book on the subject, and I have lifted heavily from his work.  I segue from that into the old standard talk on how I got into writing needlework fiction.  I keep it light and try to be amusing.  My best line is a quote from Fred Allen:  "I don’t know why anyone would write a book when for a few dollars he could buy one.”  The talk went really well and I stayed over my allotted time answering questions.  We brought books to sell, giving fifteen percent of sales to the Friends.  It was a super gift and I came home elated.

I wrote this and meant to add to it - then forgot.

It was a gorgeous fall day today, so I went out to the golf course.  Played badly, but the weather was so fine, I didn't mind.








Answer:  A Promise