The merry, merry month of May was full of springtime things to do. There were great plays and new movies, walks in the woods and strolls through gardens. Music by the lake and paintings mounted on gallery walls.
For some reason, I was under the mistaken impression that retirement was a time of rest and relaxation. I am over a decade into my “golden years,” and I have discovered that I’m as busy now as I’ve ever been. I don’t know how I ever had time to hold down a real job! My calendar is filled to bursting! Most of my retired friends have found the same thing to be true in their lives.
I think being a “senior citizen” is a lot like being an adolescent. There are so many new and exciting things just waiting for our attention! The sky’s the limit.
There are classes to attend, trips to take, arts and crafts to develop and enjoy, friends to dine with or play games with, and service clubs that need volunteers. There are concerts and plays to attend, pickle-ball games to play, hikes and bike-rides to take, new musical instruments to learn, gardens to care for, grandkids to dote upon, protest signs to paint and rallies to attend, and so much more! And of course, there are books to read and life stories to write and share.
In the spirit of Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, I took myself on two delightful local adventures, or artist’s field trips, this past month. What do you do for inspiration?
A Sense of Beauty at the Crocker Art Museum
An amazing collection of paintings from Museo de Arte de Ponce in Puerto Rico was on display at Sacramento’s Crocker Art Museum. “The Sense of Beauty: Six Centuries of Painting from Museo de Arte de Ponce” is a captivating sampling from museum’s large eclectic collection.
The Museo was created by Luis A. Ferre and his wife Lorencita Ramirez de Arellano beginning in the 1950s to bring together beautiful art from across centuries and cultures. It highlights both the commonalities and the uniqueness of beautiful art inspired by the world’s beauty. I selected portraits to share with you, but the collection includes landscapes, still lifes, and sculptures. Art tells stories, and art brings people together. Ferre described his museum’s purpose and goal.
Here, culture will be made with universal harmonies, but with Puerto Rican notes, seeking the fertile synthesis of the old and the new, of our own and the strange; opening new horizons and new perspectives to the human sensibility that has no borders nor nationality.
Stage Version of Back to the Future!
I love the energy of live performances! Don’t you? The Broadway Series at the SAFE Credit Union Performing Arts Center, AKA Sac Community Center in Downtown, featured the stage version of Back to the Future based on the 1980s classic sci-fi movie. I loved that movie. I’ve seen it several times over the years. I bet you have, too. I knew the Broadway Musical version would be spectacular, and I was not disappointed!
The stage craft was worthy of movie CGI special effects. The way they made the car tear across the stage and fly into the future was the frosting on the special effects cake. The storyline was as fun as ever. The acting was superb. The music was powerful. My friends John and Janiene Lynch and I laughed and cheered and leaped to our feet for the standing ovation. If you get a chance to catch the play in your city, go for it! You won’t regret it.
Speaking of sci-fi, I hope you’ve seen the movie version of Project Hail Mary. Based on the book by Andy Weir, the movie stars Ryan Gosling as a middle school science teacher (this retired middle school teacher loves that detail!) who ends up in a spaceship headed out on a mission to save all the living things on Earth from “something” that’s destroying entire solar systems and their suns. Initially, everything goes wrong. Then thanks to our hero’s creativity and perseverance, things begin to go right. Once the mission begins, there are only two characters—one human, one rocky.
The special effects are startling and stunning and beautiful. The story is rich and meaningful. The acting is perfect. Despite the otherworldly sci-fi setting, I was there, right there inside the story. We need heroic and gentle stories like this in chaotic times like these. I laughed, I screamed, I sighed, I cried, and then I laughed again. If you’ve not seen it, it’s big screen worthy.
I confess, I’ve not yet read the book. Have you? Which was better—book or movie?
As you know, Book#2, Strangers In My Blood, is about growing up adopted in the Fifties and Sixties and later discovering my biological family members. I finished the rough, rough, rough draft last month and sent it off to my developmental editor, MaxieJane Frazier at Mighty Mule Editing, to work her creative magic.
She returned my manuscript completely covered with notes (both atta-girl! and seriously? comments). I have a lot of work to do to ready it for publishing. But I knew that going in, and I’m super grateful for the feedback Maxie provided.
It’s previously been scrutinized chapter-by-chapter by my two brilliant critique groups, the Willow Valley Writers and the Picnic Table Group, it’s undergone a terrific “global read” by my book coach/editor, Rebecca Inch-Partridge.
I’m excited and overwhelmed by all the insightful suggestions. Now, after taking a relaxing and mind-clearing hiatus from writing for a few weeks, with the manuscript in back in my hands, I must get back to work!
In the meantime… Back on the ranch…
Remember Genie? Last month, I introduced you to an important real-life character from Strangers. I told you about Genie, one of my “new” half-siblings who appear as characters in Strangers In My Blood. Next month, in July, I’ll introduce you to another character, my half-brother Glenn. So, stay tuned! Same time, same channel!
That’s right. Reading in the Wild is back with new books chosen from my 2026 Earth Month collection. With the guidance of Auburn Community Television’s studio manager, Philip Jacques, (who is also cameraman, editor, and director) I’ve recorded a new episode featuring three terrific books. Rivers flow through each of them.
Go As A River by Shelley Read is an historic novel.
Is A River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane is a hybrid memoir.
Brave the Wild River by Melissa L. Sevigny is a dual biography.
Keep your eyes and ears peeled. In the show, I make one obvious mistake when I’m speaking. When you find it, send me an email at joangriff@gmail.com describing my error and I’ll enter your name into a drawing for a copy of my book Force of Nature!
A quick note! If you know me, you know I love anything to do with America’s First Ladies. Just in time for our 250th anniversary, one of my favorite authors of women’s historical fiction, Stephanie Dray, has just released a new book that has me super excited. Founding Mother is about the extraordinary life of Abigail Adams, whom Dray describes as a “Fearless Patriot, First Lady, and the Formidable Force Behind Two Presidents.” I wholeheartedly agree!
I will be teaching one of my “Women’s History Through Literature” OLLI classes during fall semester using Dray’s Founding Mother. I hope you will join me! I will be teaching at both Sierra College’s Rocklin campus and at the Lincoln Library. The OLLI at Sierra class catalogue will be available in August, and I’ll share more information about dates and times in this Substack as we get closer.
This year, 2026, is the twentieth anniversary (how can that be!!!) of the Grand Adventure that led me to write my adventure memoir Force of Nature. It was twenty years ago in July that Cappy, Jane, and I stepped out on the John Muir Trail. Watch for more information on the celebrations to come. We’re still cooking up the details, but subscribers to this Substack will be some of the first to know!
Four authors — Five books — A plethora of strong women — will all sit on the shelf together at the American Library Association (ALA) Conference in Chicago in June. They sit under the banner “Strong Women—Powerful Journeys!” Thanks to author and friend Janis Robinson Daly for arranging for our books to sit in such a place of honor!
Saving Vincent by Joan Fernandez - Women’s Historical Fiction
Katharine’s Remarkable Road Trip by Gail Ward Olmsted - Creative Nonfiction
My own book, Force of Nature - an Adventure Memoir
Under Two Flags by Janis Robinson Daly - Women’s Historical Fiction
The Unlocked Path by Janis Robinson Daly - Women’s Historical Fiction
June is Pride Month, so I want to point you toward an excellent book. Cleve Jones’ 2016 memoir, When We Rise: My Life in the Movement, tells his story of growing up gay in the Sixties, Seventies, and Eighties, moving to San Francisco, finding himself, and living through the AIDS epidemic while others did not. It’s not only his life story, but the history of the Gay Rights Movement centered in San Francisco’s Castro District.
Jones and I are exactly the same age, yet he knew and witnessed so much that I was oblivious to. The book is absolutely the very best memoir I have ever, ever read. Jones narrates the audio-book himself, and that is extra powerful. I cannot recommend it enough! (really, it’s off the charts)
Are you in a book club? What kinds of books does your group read? Do you have book recommendations?
Both of my book clubs make eclectic choices, so I get to read books I’d not ordinarily pick out for myself.
My local, in-person book club recently talked about Theo of Golden by Alan Levi. Everyone loved it! We have three genuine and very accomplished artists in our group, so the story really resonated with us. The rhythm of the story was like strolling through an art gallery, pausing to look closely at every piece and reading all those little descriptive signs, then turning the corner to walk into a new gallery display and WOW! a total surprise!
Next we’re going to discuss Plainsong by Kent Haruf.
My online book club, made up authors who share the publisher Black Rose Writing, recently read and discussed two books:
Descartes’ Demon by Ross Hightower & Deb Heim. It’s a deliciously fun satire the authors’ aptly describe as “A rollicking Manhattan Cyber Mystery with a Touch of the Supernatural.” Not my usual fare at all, but I loved it. It was a quick read that kept me giggling and guffawing page after page.
Mall Goddess by Marilee Dahlman. Again, not my usual fare, but a delightfully fun and funny read. The mall goddess, AKA mall custodian, sports tattoos, pink hair, and overalls, and she makes cute pink pottery pigs in her spare time. She’s the hero and the rebel leader, who challenges the powers-that-be to save the town’s mall. Another story that kept me laughing.
The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea
In a beautiful pea-green boat…
Jan Brett has created so many absolutely gorgeous books for children. Every page is covered in fine details beautifully rendered. Her art is the music that accompanies the action on the story’s stage. The classic story in poetry form, “The Owl and the Pussycat,” is enriched by the jewel-like colors of Brett’s artistry.
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