As The World Turns
Changing Seasons and Clocks Springing Forward, Crossing the International Date Line, and Reading Your Way Through Earth Month!
Persephone, the Goddess of Spring, made her dramatic equinox entrance on March 20, and I couldn’t be happier! She brings with her longer days, warmer temperatures, sunny blue skies, green hillsides, emerging flowers, and wanderlust.
What’s not to like?
I have lots to share this month. (It’s really been two months, but who’s counting?) Looking back, I’ve just got to tell you about my trip to Southeast Asia in late February! Looking forward, I’m going to unveil my fun Read Your Way Through Earth Month project. So here goes!
Vietnam & Cambodia by Boat on the Mekong and Beyond!
On February 15, my hiking and travel buddy, Cappy, and I hopped on a plane and flew eastward across the Pacific Ocean, past the International Date Line (where we lost a full day, leaping from Saturday to Monday), and landed in Ho Chi Minh City (the old Saigon) in Vietnam. There, we joined our Road Scholar leader and 16 fellow travelers.
We spent a couple days exploring the city. Then, we embarked on a small, shallow-draft boat, with 10 staterooms, that carried us up the Mekong and wound among its tributaries and the many interconnecting canals. We were comfortably ensconced on our boat for the next eight days, climbing off onto docks or tenders to the shore every day to visit villages along the way. We entered Cambodia when the waterway crossed the border, continuing our river journey. We stopped to visit the grand city of Phnom Penh and ended our river trip in Siem Reap and Ankor Wat, where we spent three days exploring.
It was an amazing experience to visit these two countries via their waterways, as the vast majority of the population lives on or near the water. We rode ox carts and tuk tuks. In several villages, we visited small family cottage businesses—potters, silversmiths, candy makers, silk makers, rice poppers—as well as a university, an elementary school, monasteries, and temples. My heart was full interacting with a classroom full of eager, young students who sang for and with us. I received a special blessing by a monk inside one monastery’s temple. There were, of course, fascinating museums and lectures.
The boat and its crew were a delight. I joked that it was like traveling in an Agatha Christie novel without the murder. The boat was small and accommodations were tight, but elegant in a centuries-old way. We were watched over by the crew, pampered by the staff, and guided expertly by the leader and his guides. The food was excellent and abundant. Though it was the “cool dry” season, the humid temperatures hovered around “feels like 100 degrees” every afternoon. The crew greeted us at the end of each day’s land tour with ice-cold wet cloths and glasses of chilled juice. Then we retreated to the uppermost sundeck for cocktails and the cool breeze created by the boat’s resumed movement upstream.
The trip was beyond my expectations in every way! The grande finale came with our two days in and around Angkor Wat, the jewels in Cambodia’s crown. We rose at 4:30am to travel to the Wat before sunrise, then sat on a stone wall across the moat from the ancient temples to witness the slow emergence of the dawning sun behind the silhouetted skyline. Breathtaking!
Extra! Extra! - Join in the Read Your Way Through Earth Month Project!
Please join me for some Nature-Focused Reading fun! I’ve been teasing you about this here and on social media for a month, and now it’s it’s time for the full reveal!
The first Earth Day, triggered by the publication of Rachel Carson’s shocking book Silent Spring, took place on April 22, 1970. The first one I remember was a year later in 1971, when my high school (the Sylmar High Spartans) held an all-day festival with contributions from every class and every student and some big-name speakers. Do you remember the first time you attended an Earth Day celebration?
“Rachel Carson is a pivotal figure of the twentieth century… people who thought one way before her essential 1962 book Silent Spring thought another way after it.” — Margaret Atwood
Since then, Earth Day has grown into Earth Month, with events and celebrations taking place all around the world throughout April. Our awareness of Earth’s vulnerable beauty and the environmental damage humans have created has grown, but we have somehow been unable (or unwilling) to stop doing damage.
My memoir, Force of Nature, is both a fun adventure story and an ode to Mother Nature’s awing power and beauty. The experience it describes of my 200-mile hike along the John Muir Trail, and the process of writing it all down to share with readers, deepened my connection to the natural world and my concern for its preservation and protection.
My Read Your Way Through Earth Month project—with the accompanying calendar, reading list, and public events—is my way of blending and sharing my duel loves of nature and literature. I have carefully curated a list of 30 nature-centered books, one for each of April’s 30 days, to share with you. #30TitlesEarthMonth The books represent a wide swath of genres—nonfiction, mystery, thriller, memoir, historical fiction, eco-fiction, short story collection, and traditional nature writing—something for every reader to enjoy. There are old classics and new releases, and even a couple titles available in special young adult (YA) versions.
I am a true believer in the power of stories to inform, entertain, and inspire us to explore and preserve the beautiful, yet fragile, world that we live in. ~ Joan Griffin
I have scheduled several public talks in the next few weeks—in-person events here in the Sierra Foothills area, one of which is available via Zoom. I’ve also scheduled two Zoom events on April 19 and 22. I’ve invited other authors to join me on Zoom, too.
In addition, several of the authors of the selected Earth Month books are joining with me to celebrate by offering free copies of our books for a drawing at the end of the month. You can find all the details about the Earth Month events, and you can enter the Earth Month book drawing via my website or the button below.
Earth Month Events:
March 27 at 5:30pm - Lincoln Library, Twelve Bridges, in Lincoln, CA.
April 6 at 1pm - PECA (Placer Earth Care Action) at the First Congregational Church of Auburn, on Auburn Ravine Road, Auburn, CA. (Also available via Zoom. For Zoom link and more information about the PECA event, click here.)
April 7 at 2pm - Springfield Book Club, in Rocklin, CA. (Private community event.)
Zoom Events on April 19 and April 22 (Earth Day) at 4pm Pacific time.
If you have more questions, you can leave your question in the comments by clicking the button below, or email me at joangriff@gmail.com
February - March Book Roundup
I know many readers of my blog/newsletter look forward especially to my monthly book recommendations and reviews. I don’t want to disappoint, but I’ve run out of room and time, so I’ll include the books I read in February and March in my next newsletter at the end of April. I’m sure there are plenty of terrific books to be found in the Read Your Way Through Earth Month calendar to keep you plenty busy!
OLLI Author Spotlight Interviews
My OLLI at Sierra College Spotlight on Authors Interview Series continues in Spring Semester with author and retired park ranger Rosanne McHenry on April 18 and author and artist Barbara Olson Lawrence on May 16, both at noon via Zoom. Click the blue link to the OLLI registration page. All proceeds go to the Sierra College Food Pantry that supports Sierra students in need.
