On a solemn Saturday afternoon back in November, Nebraska Assistant Coach Ron Brown led the scarlet and cream and the blue and white in prayer at midfield after a week of allegations and firings rocked Happy Valley.

                That singular moment of prayer hoped for healing and showed those watching that something bigger than a winning touchdown was important. To me, the hash-mark gathering recognized the seriousness of the accusations and asked for understanding and guidance during a complex situation.

                For most Nebraskans who follow Husker football, seeing Coach Brown praying at midfield following Huskers games is nothing new. Members of both teams meet and listen to a post-game prayer usually delivered by Brown, and sometimes, prayers offered by players.

                I’ve had the opportunity to hear Brown speak at assemblies, as well as Fellowship of Christian Athletes functions. Listening to him share testimony and talk about a connection between athletics and religion, it’s easy to develop respect for this coach who openly shares his beliefs and encourages student athletes to strive for the best.

                But Brown’s directness has caused a stir recently, not only in Nebraska, but around this vast sports nation.  Newspapers, talk radio, TV and sports outlet ranging from Nebraska’s daily newspapers to the Huffington Post to the New York Times to ESPN ran quotes and sound bytes of Brown’s March 6 opposition regarding proposed amendments to city discrimination laws in front of the Omaha City Council.

                The amendments would allow bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender occupants to file grievances if they were fired over sexual orientation or experienced workplace or public discrimination. (The Council passed the ordinance one week later.)

                Here’s the conundrum. Brown introduced himself as a member of the UNL coaching staff. Were Brown’s comments representing his employer or were the comments his personal beliefs?

                A March 22 Huffington Post article by sports writer Cyd Ziegler calls for the Huskers to fire Brown.  Ziegler believes the attitudes and beliefs of the running backs coach set a negative tone with Nebraska athletes. 

                Ziegler asserts that when Brown uses Memorial Stadium, Tom Osborne Field, or his office in the sports complex as the backdrop for videos while sharing his message, a separation between Brown’s beliefs and UNL’s policy is blurred.

                UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman reprimanded Brown, who has spent over 20 years coaching at the university.  UNL’s nondiscrimination policy is clear. UNL does not discriminate based on sexual orientation.

                This debate also calls to question Brown’s right to freedom of speech. As an individual citizen, he’s afforded First Amendment rights, including freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

                I don’t always agree with World-Herald columnist Tom Shatel, but I do agree with his perception of this situation. I’m ok with Coach Brown being himself, as long as he does not wear Husker gear and he informs UNL administration ahead of time of what he’s doing.  

                UNL has the prerogative to tell him no, also.

                Brown may be walking a fine line among religion, speech, and separation between church and state, but he’s standing strong in his beliefs.

About 30 years ago, when we were cleaning my grandmother’s house in Wausa, Nebraska, when she moved to a nursing facility, I stumbled upon a quilt. The top was this beautiful orange, cream, and brown flower pattern. The back was a spring green. I have no clue who made it or what the significance was, but I took it home and used it for the next 15 years until it literally disintegrated.

Quilts and the art of quilting have been a tradition since, well, for thousands of years. Quilting is believed to have started in Egypt. In America, quilting dates to the 1700s.

How does quilting tie to Nebraska? In Lincoln, you’ll find the International Quilt Study Center and Museum, where you’ll discover the largest collection of quilts in the world.  Over 3500 quilts are housed in the state-of-the-art building.

The center is part of the University of Nebraska system, located on the East Campus at 33rd and Holdrege Streets. In 1997, Ardis and Robert James donated their collection of over 1000 quilts to UN-L. After a donation from the James family and other private funding came about, the new building opened in 2008. Now, over 30 different countries are represented in the collection.

The study center and museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 1o AM to 4:30 PM and Sundays, 1 – 4:30 PM. Admission is charged.

The quilt study center and museum is a fabulous artistic and historic resource that highlights and retells an American story through fabric.

When pioneers crossed into Nebraska, they were greeted by waves of prairie grass, rippling with the wind. As society progressed, that prairie vanished, making way for crop and livestock production and urbanization.

Now, nine miles northwest of downtown Lincoln, the virgin prairie – known as the nine-mile prairie -  covers 230 acres. Formerly, it covered 640 acreas. The majority of the land has never been plowed ( a small corner was at one point) and livestock grazed on some of the grass.

In the 1920s, the land was part of a University of Nebraska study of plant ecology, led by Professor Weaver. Today, 392 species of vascular plants have been identified on the prairie, along with 80 species of birds. UNL continues to use the area for the study of conservation, management and restoration of tall prairie grass.

Big Bluestem grass, cottonwood and honey locust trees, sumac and eastern juniper are just a few of the species located on this plot of land.

Frightened by things that go bump in the night? Visit Nebraska and you’re certain to find  multiple sites across the state that are reportedly haunted.

A visit to an internet site – The Shadowlands - lists 62 towns scattered across Nebraska that haunted tales to tell.  Interestingly, it does not list my home town, Clay Center, where the elementary building is haunted. Supposedly, the ghost of former principal, Mr. Allan, haunts the school building. His photo hung in the hallway, at an entryway to the former gymnasium. Walk down the hall, and the eyes of the portrait follow you. Creepy, yes, but it’s a often-told tale. I’ll preface this by saying my parents both taught at the school and were good friends with him and both felt the photo had a some type of strange vibe.

They weren’t the only school employees who felt some type of presence in the school. One of the former school cooks, who arrived early each morning, said she heard footsteps crossing the gym floor, yet when she looked out, nobody was in the gym.

Nebraska Wesleyan campus in Lincoln supposedly is home to several ghosts. A former professor reportedly haunts the old music building. But don’t worry. It’s not the only haunted campus in Lincoln. The Temple Building at UNL purportedly has a ghost.

The State Capitol possesses a ghost on the observation deck. I’ve visited here several times and honestly, I have never heard the sobs of a crying man. I’ve heard plenty of howling wind though.

In Crofton, Nebraska, the Argo Hotel - a beautifully remodeled restaurant and bed & breakfast – houses a ghost. Maybe more. One legend says a young girl died in the basement and her ghost walks around the hotel. Another story says that the building used to be a mental institution and ghost-like wailing can be heard from several rooms. And yet another story adds that when a worker was tearing down a wall in the present-day lounge, a skeleton of a baby was discovered. And if that’s not enough, pictures have been known to move on their own.

Whether or not you believe in the supernatural, legends and stories continue to report about strange happenings that occur across the state’s wide-open prairie.

We even have our own ghost-busting group, although I’ve seen some of their stories featured in the mainstream media and they seem legit. Check out Midwest Paranormal Investigators in Kearney.

As much as I love this land that forms the state of Nebraska, I’ve never really given a second thought to these layers of earth. But if you peel back (OK, dig) you’ll discover an interesting assortment of unusual gems. Nebraska’s gems formed in one of three ways:  either formed in the place where they were located or they were transported into Nebraska by streams draining mountainous regions to the west of our state or glaciers originating in the north pushed them into this region.

In 1967, the Nebraska legislature passed a law naming Blue Chalcedony or Blue Agate as the state gemstone.

One of the best ways to look at what gems have been uncovered in Nebraska is to look at the 13 drainage basins across Nebraska. Specimens have been discovered in 10 of the 13 basins.

1. Big Blue Basin - Moss Agate
2. Elkhorn Basin - Banded Agate, Opalized Wood (which is pure white)
3. Little Blue Basin - Agatized wood cabochon, Cloud Agate, Jaspar, Moss Agate
4. Lower Platte Basin - Moss Agate, Agatized Wood, Picture Jaspar, Jaspar, Dentritic Agate
5. Missouri River Basin - Dendritic Agate
6. Niobrara River Basin - Agatized Wood, Labradorite (iridescent feldspar)
7. North Platte River Basin - Agatized Palm, Agatized Wood, Nephrite, Orbicular Jaspar
8. Republican River Basin - Agatized Wood, Jaspar
9. South Platte River Basin - Agatized Palm, Agatized Wood, Carmelian Agate, Cloud Agates, Coarse Agate, Dendritic Agate, Jaspar, Orbicular Jaspar, Moss Agate, Smoky Quartz
10. White River / Hat Creek Basin - Agatized Palm, Agatized Wood, Carmelian Agate, Cloud Agates, Coarse Agate, Dendritic Agate, Jaspar, Orbicular Jaspar, Moss Agate, Smoky Quart
11. Loup River Basin - NONE
12. Middle North Platte River Basin - NONE
13. Nemaha River Basin - NONE

Several examples have been found, but as of this time, they haven’t been assigned: Agatized Oolite, Blue Agate, Chalcedony, Common Opal flint, Ironwood, Ivory and bone, Onyx, Agatized Coral, Glacial deposits, HOney Agate, Jaspar, Lake Superior Agate, Cherts, Sioux Quartzite, Thunder Egg Cone, and Wood-grain Chert.

The School of Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln has a fantastic online database of photos and descriptions of the gems, broken down by drainage basin.