Hurtling Through Space

Seventy Laps Around The Sun!

Between Flag Day and the Summer Solstice, I turned seventy! The BIG seven-oh! My Platinum Jubilee celebration! How the heck did that happen? Who is that “senior citizen” in the mirror? I feel like I should be about thirty-five or forty—NOT seventy!

With a little help from my friends, I’ve been celebrating my birthday all month long! One of my new East Coast sisters once told me that Califorians stretch out their birthdays far longer than folks Back East, turning birthdays into birth-months, something those Right Coast folks just do not do! Who’da thunk! Exuberance is a California trait!

I threw a 70th birthday party for myself, and 13 of my closest women friends joined me for a lunch of potluck salads in Lily’s Garden Park in Cedar Ridge / Grass Valley. (There were 13 delicious salads and NO duplicates! Magic!) After lunch, we wandered the park’s trails “over the river and through the woods” and stopped to chat at a circle of benches in the shade of tall trees beside the river. It felt like a feminine power circle—brilliant and creative, interesting and interested, generous and strong women—all of them. I am filled with immense gratitude that I have the honor of calling each of them by the honorific “dear friend” and all of them my sisters!

With them by my side, maybe my seventh decade won’t be so challenging after all!

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Heart Full of Gratitude - It Takes a Village to Write a Book

Something has come to me as a complete surprise about publishing my book. I never in a million years expected to be on the receiving end of so many letters and messages from readers! It has been a lovely and emotionally overwhelming experience for me. Every day, I am gifted with a note telling me Force of Nature has inspired a reader to take on a new challenge or brought back sweet memories of past outdoor adventures.

It’s humbling, and it’s exhilarating. I have found so many new friends!

I have several sister writers to thank for their efforts in helping me to make my book rich with emotion, feelings, and purpose. In its original draft, Force of Nature was a simple adventure story. Members of my beloved critique group, the Willow Valley Writers, helped me infuse the story with emotion and taught me to reveal my feelings.

Willow Valley Writers in its current form: Barbara Olson Lawrence, Patricia Dove Miller, Del Dozier. (Past members: Pam Adams, Dora Cividino, Holly Bundock, and more.)

Each time we met, they returned my chapter submissions marked up to help me learn to shed my “I am a rock—I am an island” attitude and embrace the use of lots more “reflective voice” in my stories.

“Joan, how did this make you feel? I want to feel it, too!”

“What were you thinking here? What’s going on in your head?”

“What was your motivation? Why are you doing that?”

I am a better writer and my book is a better story, because of these brilliant sister writers! Deep bows of gratitude goes out to each of them, and to all of the new friends Force of Nature has introduced to me!

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June Field Trip — The de Young Museum in San Francisco

In the spirit of Julia Cameron’s Artist’s Way, my June inspirational field trip was to the de Young Museum’s 40th annual Bouquets to Art exhibit. Floral designers from all over the region are invited to create displays to accompany pieces of the museum’s art. From costumes, pottery, and paintings, to baskets and carvings, the artists display their flower arrangements beside the museum pieces that inspired them. Some mimic the art, others complement it, but all of them entrance the viewers.

I’ve wanted to attend for years, but since the flowers are fleeting, it’s been an elusive goal. This was the first year my calendar cooperated. My friend Terry joined me for the field trip, and together, we spent the day oohing-and-aahing our way throughout the museum. I brought back photos to share with you!

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Another Field Trip — Loney Meadows

Loney Meadows is a land preserve up in the Grouse Ridge Basin north of Nevada City administered by Bear Yuba Land Trust. It’s a beautiful loop trail that encircles a lush green meadow. Colorful wildflowers decorate the trail and aspen groves welcome hikers with their quaking leaves. It’s one of my favorite trails. My dear friend Sue and I were a bit early, so there were still patches of snow and we had to cross an ankle-deep creek filled with snowmelt. The wildflowers were just beginning to bloom. I was left filled with a sense of anticipation and possibility.

Field trips for July? I’m thinking about a new exhibit at the Crocker Museum in Sac or a trip up the hill to Donner Pass and the Railroad Tunnels or the ComedyFest at the Sofia with B Street Theater. So many possibilities—so little time! Do you have ideas?

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June’s Books!

I read four-and-a-half books in June, listened to them really. I confess, I’ve completely flip-flopped on the reading-vs-listening argument. I now listen to all my books, unless they’re not yet available in that mode. I can walk and drive and do chores and housekeeping tasks while reading, so I can devour way more books this way.

How do you feel about that question? Do your read with your eyes or your ears?

Two dystopian novels or cautionary tales, one historical fiction, one contemporary fiction, and one still in-progress memoir.

Luncheon of the Boating Party by Susan Vreeland is a rich historical novel set in France during the time when the Impressionists ruled the Left Bank and Renoir was composing the huge painting of the Luncheon. I loved it. The author painted a truly vivid story! 5*

The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell by Robert Dugoni came highly recommended and it lived up to its hype. It’s a bold contemporary novel full of intriguing subtlties. The characters are quirky and so lovable that you want to take them home with you. It’s a rich feel-good story. 5*

The History of Bees by Maja Lunde and The Bear by Andrew Krivak each ask a different what-if question about humanity’s future survival. What if all the pollinators die? What if we’re the only ones left? How will we survive? Both are well written, both left me more than a little shaken. 4* & 4*

An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s, a memoir by Doris Kearns Goodwin is the book I’ve not yet finished reading. It’s a “dense” book that needs to be read slowly, with pauses for reflection. It’s filled with personal and public and political details of the Sixties. It’s a love story to life, to her marriage, and to American ideals. She worked in the Johnson White House, her husband in both the Kennedy and Johnson White Houses. It’s absolutely fascinating and there are arrows pointing straight to today’s social-political world. 5*

You can find all my book reviews on Goodreads.

Do you have book recommendations? I’m always looking for the next good book!

My TBR pile includes: Grand Teton Triumph by Arnold Marsden, Scortched by Cam Torrens, and Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See. So many books—so little time!

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HOT! HOT! HOT!

We had a taste of HOT weather in mid-June. We’re about to have more than a week of 100++ temperatures. This calls for drastic measures!

Here’s my recipe for a cool summer pick-me-up and my regular go-to summertime breakfast—Strawberry Banana Smoothie.

Ingredients:
2+ cups frozen strawberries (or other frozen fruit)
1 banana
1/2 C unsweetened almond milk (maybe a little more/less)
1/2 plain nonfat yogurt (or vanilla)
1 C of greens (I like arugula)
5 fresh basil leaves (Mint is great, too.)
Directions:
Put it all in a blender and hit the button.
Serve and enjoy!

July and the heart of the summer are now upon us! Stay cool and hydrated, my friends!