May Flowers, Mother's Day & "Don't Wear White Before Memorial Day!"
Plus books, the arts, and a great outdoor walk
I had a surprise visit from Mom’s voice this week! “Don’t wear white before Memorial Day!” I could hear her reminding me, loud-and-clearly, in my head.
Miss Manners had nothing on my mother. She grew up in the Depression, came of age during WWII, and was a strict follower of the Fashion Police Rules. She never wanted to be mistaken for a fashion dunce. She had had to wear hand-me-downs as a child, and felt like what she called a “ragamuffin.” As an adult, she was always “put together” when she went out in public, down to her flame-orange lipstick. Though she’s been gone ten years now, she still speaks to me in abstentia from time to time. The rule: No white clothes or white shoes, or straw hats for that matter, except between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
As much as I bucked the so-called Fashion Rules while growing up, I find myself, now that I’m older, reinacting my mother’s fashion guidance just the same. I was reminded of all this because of the recent passage of Memorial Day and because I found myself setting out today on a mission to purchase a new pair of white capris. With the arrival of the the holiday weekend, I was overcome by a sudden urge to have something bright white to wear in celebration of the coming of summer!
Thanks, Mom! And a belated Happy Mother’s Day to all those moms, grandmas, and guardians out there! For Mother’s Day, I received a new book (the perfect gift for me!) and the anticipation of a long flight and a weeklong visit with my son and daughter-in-law in Boston in just a few days! Yipee! I’ll be sure to share stories and photos from my visit in my next newsletter/blog.
Field Trips in Search of Beauty and Inspiration
“April showers bring May flowers,” they say. It certainly has been an ever-blossoming springtime around here. Horton’s Iris Garden has reached its season’s end, but Lily’s Garden Park in Cedar Ridge just opened to the public on May first. I love wandering the trails, first through manicured gardens filled with flowering plants and funky garden treasures hidden among the greenery. Next, I head over the river and through the woods, where I can continue my wandering among the tall trees until I tire, then rest on any number of the benches or chairs squirreled away in the stillness of the forest or beside the musical flowing water. It’s a delightful place to spend an hour or two, wandering or sitting. One of these days, I’m going to take my writing journal and write the day away among the natural beauty! What a gift to the community it is—a little bit of wilderness just off the beaten path.
We need the tonic of wilderness. ~ Henry David Thoreau, WaldenIt’s been a month of enjoying artistic beauty—stage plays, live music, and gallery shows. The Silver Foxes (a band including my good friend John Lynch) performed twice at Lake of the Pines. My friend Linda Pierce was a part of a multi-artist art show at the Old Carnegie Library in Auburn. Then there were the plays: The terrific Seminar (a readers’ theater production by Theatre By The Book at the Nevada Theatre in Nevada City), a delightful version of The Importance of Being Earnest (staged at the Imagination Theater in Placerville), and the over-the-top Million Dollar Quartet (performed by Broadway at Music Circus in Sacramento).
If you ever have the opportunity to see a performance of Million Dollar Quartet, GO! I cannot emphasize that enough. GO! It’s an enactment of the true story of one December night in Memphis back in the Fifties, when four young muscians, each on the cusp of fame, drops in on Sam Phillips at Sun Records. Each of them was “discovered” by Sam and all have important business with him. Jerry Lee Lewis is there to convince Sam to make his first record. Carl Perkins is there to argue with Sam about the state of his career. Johnny Cash is there for a discussion of his contract. Elvis (along with his girlfriend) is there to convince Sam to take him back under his wing and save him from “the colonel.” The guys jam and compete, playing and singing new songs and old spirituals until late into the night. Sam had the presence of mind to turn on the recording equipment and caught the whole night on tape. The actors “became” the famous musicians, belting out one hit after another to the beep-bopping audience’s delight. Oh, what a night! This was the second time I’ve seen this play. The first was a couple years ago in Birmingham, Alabama, on vacation. And I will see it again and again whenever it and I are in the same city!
Interesting story for those outside the Sacramento area: Back in the day, when we first moved up to NorCal, Music Circus was a summer series of plays performed in-the-round in an actual circus tent—a huge tent cooled only with fans and swamp coolers—in summer, in the Central Valley, where it’s often 100+ degrees in July and August. You had to be a die-hard theater fan to withstand a two-hour performance! A number of years ago, they raised enough money to build a big beautiful building which is modeled after the old round tent, with the stage in the center. It’s a wonderful venue—complete with air conditioning!
Books, Books, and More Books!
I’m still in catch-up mode here, sharing books from earlier in the reading year. I figure we’ll get caught up by the end of summer! I know many folks look forward to my book recommendations, so I don’t want to skip any! Some of these titles may well show up in the Earth Day 2026 calendar. If you have recommendation for that list, do send them my way via the comments below.
Eight books. So many books are cross-genre stories these days, and I love it! My list includes one memoir, one contemporary mystery, one contemporary medical mystery-thriller, three historical novels, one historical murder mystery, and one speculative fiction. A real mixed bag, maybe I should say a mixed bookshelf!
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore is both an historical novel and a murder mystery centered around an old family on an old estate turned kids’ summer camp. It’s full of eccentric characters, some filthy rich and some the laborers and neighbors they employ or shun. The plot twists and turns like a mountain trail through the woods, with crafty misleading diversions that send the reader on dead-end paths. The central characters are lovable, despite their flaws and fears. 5*****
Go As A River by Shelley Read came highly recommended to me, and I’m going to pass on that good word. It is an historical novel set in a tiny town in Colorado that is intentionally flooded to make way for a giant dam back when that was seen as progress. The central character, a dirt poor young woman, is surprisingly strong, resilient, and determined. I fell in love with her spirit from the moment we met and cheered her on through every rough patch and success. A terrific story well told! 5*****
Jennifer Chiaverini’s The World’s Fair Quilt is one in a long line of quilt-centered novels she has written. I’m sure the main audience for this series is quilting women, but the historical thread is fascinating, too. The story centers around an heirloom quilt soon to be placed in the town’s historical exhibit. The plot alternates between the modern display plans and old stories of how two young sisters teamed up during the Depression to create a quilt and compete for monetary prizes in the Sears & Roebuck National Quilt Contest for the 1933 Century of Progress Exposition, also known as the Chicago World’s Fair. A fun story! 5*****
Joanna Quinn’s The Whalebone Theatre, another historical novel is set on the coast of England and spans the times before, during, and after the Second World War, on an old estate that has slipped into near poverty between the wars. The children are left entirely to raise themselves and become adept at dramatic productions that bring people from far and wide to watch them perform. WWII violently interrupts their wild lives, but they go on to perform in new ways in defense of their country. 5*****
The memoir, Drawing Water, by my dear friend Barbara Olson Lawrence, was recently released to a blaze of high praise! It’s the beautifully written story of her life. Her childhood, that wasn’t always safe, was also peopled with kind people who threw her lifelines—teachers, store clerks, grandparent, and others. It’s a story of how kind people, nature, and art helped the author not just survive, but thrive, and create a wonderful life with a very safe and loving family of her own. 5*****
The medical thriller, Sin City Treachery, by my fellow Black Rose Writing author, Gary Gerlacher, is another edge-of-your-seat story in his AJ Docker and Banshee series. Banshee is the retired police-trained dog who belongs to “Doc,” a traveling ER doctor who seems to be a magnet for murderous trouble. Fortunately, Banshee is always there to get him out of trouble, and between them, they are sure to save the day. These books are fun, fun, fun! Great summer vacation read! 5*****
Miranda Nights, by another fellow Black Rose Writing author, Gail Ward Olmsted, is from her Miranda Quinn legal series of mysteries. In this one, Miranda tries to help the sweet teenaged son of her best friends who has innocently gotten himself entangled in something more sinister than any of them first imagines. Leave it to Miranda to untangle the threads and figure it all out—eventually! Another fun summer vacation read! 5*****
The speculative novel, Switching Tracks: Out of the Trash, by still another Black Rose Writing author, Lena Gibson, is set in the future, when multinational corporations have taken over vast swaths of the world, divvying up the US among themselves. Most people are impoverished peons mining the trash heaps of previous generations for valuables they can trade for food. The two main characters, a young pair who may or may not become a couple, take to the road in an attempt to make a better life for themselves. 4****
What are you reading? Do you have any suggestions for me?
Current Reads
I’m currently devouring the audiobook version of Barbara Kingsolver’s Flight Behavior, rereading it actually, to prepare for my next episode of Reading in the Wild on Auburn Community TV.
My local Colfax book club is reading Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale. More on those next month. What’s your book club reading?
“The Kids” gave me Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien for Mother’s Day. It’s my next read!
I just purchased Fortune’s Price by Frank Nissen, who’s big book launch party is this Sunday at the Odd Fellow’s Hall in Auburn. I can’t wait to crack it open!
Mark Your Calendar for Upcoming Author Talks:
Lake of the Pines Firebelles Luncheon - I will be sharing the stage with the remarkable Nancy Lichtle, a skydiving world champion and wild woman. My Force of Nature adventures pale in comparison! June 19 at 11am.
My OLLI at Sierra College Spotlight on Authors Interview Series continues in Spring Semester with author Shelley Blanton-Stroud on June 6 and Meade Fischer on August 15, both at noon via Zoom.
Great News About Force of Nature!
My adventure memoir, Force of Nature: Three Women Tackle the John Muir Trail, is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook! You can purchase it wherever books are sold online or in bookstores, and I’m proud to say it’s available in over 160 libraries across the country! And, now, (drumroll, please) it’s going to be coming out in a Spanish translation very soon! That just tickles me to no end!
I also loved Whalebone Theatre, but haven't heard anyone else mention it in the past year or two. Best book I've read so far this year is The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick, about feminism and the problems of married women in 1963.
And gloves - required for church...