Harris Beach State Park, Oregon, Yurt Camping Day 1

Harris Beach State Park, Oregon, Yurt Camping Day 1

Drive on Interstate 5 from Vancouver WA to Grants Pass Oregon: 254 Miles
From Grants Pass to Crescent City, CA: 82 Miles
From Crescent City to Brookings OR: 26 miles
Total Distance: 362 Miles, About 7 hours of driving

This trip is the longest drive of my dozens of yurt camping trips.
I've been through this area many times when we lived in Red Bluff, CA.
Next month I will yurt camp at Dosewallips State Park in Brinnon, WA, which is 163 miles from Vancouver.

Photos From the Internet:

Low Tide At Harris Beach

 Low Tide at Harris Beach

By Mike Garofalo

At the Edges of the West
Highway 101 and 1
Northwest Pacific Coast

Four Days in Grayland

25 Steps and Beyond: Collected Works

Best Tidepools in Oregon

Harris Beach State Park

Brookings, Oregon

Photos from the Internet and Facebook:

           

                    

Seashore Life of the Northern Pacific Coast: An Illustrated Guide to Northern California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia.  By Eugene N. Kozloff.  University of Washington, 1983, 378 pages.  A technical scientific presentation.

Seashore Life of the Northern Pacific Coast: An Illustrated Guide to Northern California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia.  By Eugene N. Kozloff.  University of Washington, 1983, 378 pages.  A technical scientific presentation.

The Beachcombers Guide to Seashore Life in the Pacific Northwest. By J. Duane Sept. Harbour, 1999, index, ss3 pages. 

Plants and Animals of the Pacific Northwest. By Eugene N. Koxloff. University of Washington, 1976, index, 264 pages.

Seashore Plants of Southern California. By E. Yale Dawson. University of California, 1966, 102 pages.

National Audubon Society Field Guide to Shells of North America. Knopf, 1981, 894 pages.

Coastal Oregon with Portland. By Matt Wastradowski. Moon, 2024, 228 pages.

The New Beachcomber's Guide to the Pacific Northwest.  By J. Duane Sept. Harbor Publishing, 2019, 416 pages.

Seashore of the Pacific Northwest.  By Ian Sheldon.  Lone Pine, 1998, 192 pages.

The Sound of the Sea: Seashells and the Fate of the Oceans.  By Cynthia Barnett.  W.W. Norton, 2021, 432 pages.

Photographs from the Internet:

"Located just north of Brookings, Harris Beach is the southern-most site mentioned on this list of the best tidepools at the Oregon coast. To get to the highest concentration of sea life, walk along the short trail that leads directly to the beach, where vibrant starfish rub elbows with soft anemones and shy hermit crabs."

Pulling Onions Again

Perfection can be the opponent of betterment.
Without vagueness we are bored with literalness.
Borderline cases are where events become really interesting.
I may not be able to precisely define religious nonsense, but I know it when I hear it. 
A coastline may be impossible to measure, but is still beautiful. 
You can’t slowly boil the frog unless it can’t jump out of the pot. 
A “heap” of something desired becomes an issue when the price is discussed.
Gratefully, shit happens!
The ten thousand things are more enchanting than the Silent One.
Walking needs earth, space, and the walker.
Sometimes, just one 'thing' is critical because twenty other 'things' are just so.
Take the time to melt into the Details.
Gardening is a kind of deadheading - keeping us from going to seed.
Don't interfere, be still, and listen to the litanies of bees.
Tooth and nail, and the stench of a dead animal on the wind.
When life gives you onions, it stinks.
A rake is spaces held together by steel.
In the student's mind there are few possibilities, in the teacher's mind there are many; but only time to realize very few. 

Mother Nature is always pregnant. 
Time creeps, walks, runs and flies - it is all about moving things. 
Chaos breaks its own rules to allow Order to play. 
Dogmatists are less useful than dogs. 
Take life with a grain of salt, and a icy margarita. 
The best things in life are more expensive than you think. 
Rather than "love mankind," I'd rather admire a few good people. 
Some flourish when crowded together, others don't. 
Garbage In, Compost Out. 
It is more about You and Now, rather than Them and Back Then. 
A pocket knife will be its dullest at just the right time. 
While gardening the borders between work and play become blurred.
When gardening, look up more often.
Just the right words can be worth more than a thousand pictures. 
Death's door is always unlocked. 
A flower needs roots; beauty a society of minds. 
A callused palm and dirty fingernails precede a Green Thumb. 
A working hypothesis is far better than a belief. 
Only two percent of all insects are harmful.  Why are they all in my garden? 
Create your own garden, the god's certainly won't. 
That something is eternal is unverifiable. 
Most laws of Gardening are merely local ordinances.  

Too save some time, don’t let them get a foot in the door.
Some slippery slopes are actually improvements or fun.
Butterflies and bees flapping their wings don’t actually create hurricanes, but we are very thankful they facilitate the emergence of fruits in the billions.
Without metaphors we can barely speak.
Just because you reject the big request, don’t be fooled into accepting the smaller request.
Finding a middle ground for agreement may be just half of a solution, and the wrong solution.
Sometimes the wisdom of the crowd is quite unwise and unfair.
Chaos breaks its own rules to allow Order to play.
Failures, disorder and death are the Grim Reaper of Entropy at work. 
Somehow, someway, everything gets eaten up, someday. 
The meaning is lost in the saying - a nature mystic's dilemma. 
Vigorous gardening might help more than a psychiatrist's couch. 
A gardener is no farmer, he is much too impractical. 
No garden lasts for long - neither will you. 
Shade, in the summer, is as precious as a glass of water. 
A wise gardener knows when to stop. 
Gardens are demanding pets. 
Unclench your fist to give a hand. 
The little choices day after day are the biggest issue. 
Gardening is but one battle against Chaos. 
When life gives you onions, you ain't making lemonade. 
Many friendships are sustained by a mutual hatred of another person or group.
Read until you go to seed. 
What you see depends on when you look. 
Beauty is the Mistress, the gardener her slave. 
One's "true self" is changing and elusive. 
A little of this and a little of that, and some exceptions - these are the facts. 
Does a plum tree with no fruit have Buddha Nature?  Whack!  

Pulling Onions by Mike Garofalo
Over 799 random quips, one-liners, sayings, and "insights" from an old gardener.

Dao De Jing, Laozi, Chapter 26

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
Chapter 26

"The Place of Peace ...
The heavy is foundation for the light;
So quietness is master of the deed.
The Wise Man, though he travel all the day,
Will not be separated from his goods.
So even if the scene is glorious to view,
He keeps his place, at peace, above it all.
For how can one who rules
Ten thousand chariots
Give up to lighter moods
As all the world may do?
If he is trivial,
His ministers are lost;
If he is strenuous,
There is no master then."
-  Translated by Raymond Blackney, 1955, Chapter 26   

 

"As the heavy must be the foundation of the light,
So quietness is lord and master of activity.
Truly, “A man of consequence though he travels all day
Will not let himself be separated from his baggage-wagon,
However magnificent the view, he sits quiet and dispassionate”.
How much less, then, must be the lord of ten thousand chariots
Allow himself to be lighter than these he rules!
If he is light, the foundation is lost;
If he is active, the lord and master is lost."
- Translated by Arthur Waley, 1934, Chapter 26

"The weighty is the source of the light; stillness dominates disquietude.
Wherefore, while the Sage proceeds the whole day according to Tao, he never departs from either calmness or gravity.
Although there may be spectacles of worldly glory to attract him he sits quietly alone, far above the common crowd.
How is that a Prince of Ten Thousand Studs of Horses can regard his own person as of less importance than his regal dignity? 
This lightness on the part of the Prince loses him his Ministers, while restlessness on the part of the Ministers loses them their Prince." 
-   Translated by Frederic H. Balfour, 1884, Chapter 26    

"The Solid is the root of the light;
The Quiescent is the master of the Hasty.
Therefore the Sage travels all day
Yet never leaves his provision-cart.
In the midst of honor and glory,
He lives leisurely, undisturbed.
How can the ruler of a great country
Make light of his body in the empire by rushing about?
In light frivolity, the Center is lost;
In hasty action, self-mastery is lost."
-  Translated by Lin Yutang, 1955, Chapter 26 

重為輕根.
靜為躁君.
是以君子終日行, 不離輜重.
雖有榮觀.
燕處超然.
奈何以萬乘之主, 而身輕天下.
輕則失臣.
躁則失君.
-  Chinese characters, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 26

zhong wei qing gen.
jing wei zao jun.
shi yi sheng ren zhong ri xing, bu li zi zhong.
sui you rong guan.
yan chu chao ran.
nai he wan sheng zhi zhu, er yi shen qing tian xia.
qing ze shi gen.
zao ze shi jun.
-  Hanyu Pinyin Romanization, Daodejing, Chapter 26 

"Gravity is the source of lightness,
Calm, the master of haste.
A lone traveller will journey all day, watching over his belongings;
Yet once safe in his bed he will lose them in sleep.
The captain of a great vessel will not act lightly or hastily.
Acting lightly, he loses sight of the world,
Acting hastily, he loses control of himself.
A captain can not treat his great ship as a small boat;
Rather than glitter like jade
He must stand like stone."
-  Translated by Peter Merel, Chapter 26    

"Heaviness is the basis of lightness.
Stillness is the standard of activity.
Thus the Master travels all day
without ever leaving her wagon.
Even though she has much to see,
she is at peace in her indifference.
Why should the lord of a thousand chariots
be amused at the foolishness of the world?
If you abandon yourself to foolishness,
you lose touch with your beginnings.
If you let yourself become distracted,
you will lose the basis of your power."
-  Translated by John H. McDonald, 1996, Chapter 26

"Lo pesado es la raíz de lo ligero.
La calma somete a lo agitado.
Así, el sabio cuando viaja
no se aleja de la caravana.
Aunque pudiera divagar por los paisajes más excelsos,
conserva su paz y se hace superior.
¡Cuanta más atención debería poner el señor
del imperio en la esfera terrestre de su persona,
en vez de ocuparse de sus diez mil carruajes!
Quien se comporta superficialmente
pierde la raíz de su poder.
Quien se ofusca,
se pierde a sí mismo."
-  Translation from Wikisource, 2013, Capitulo 26  

"Weight is the root of lightness, stillness the master of motion,

And the daily way of the sage departs not from his base,

Although he have brilliant prospects, he is unconcerned and quiet,

Should the lord of ten thousand chariots be too light for his place?

Then he will lose not supporters alone,

But, being too restless, loses his throne."
-  Translated by Isaac Winter Heysinger, 1903, Chapter 26    

Chapter 26 of the Tao Te Ching

Chapter and Thematic Index (Concordance) to the Tao Te Ching

English Language Translators' Index

Ripening Peaches: Taoist Studies and Practices

Taoism: A Selected Reading List

 A typical webpage created by Mike Garofalo on a Chapter of the Tao Te Ching (Daodejing) by Lao Tzu (Laozi) includes at least 16 different translations or interpolations of the Chapter in English, two Spanish translations, the Chinese characters for the Chapter, a Wade-Giles and Hanyu Pinyin Romanization of the Mandarin Chinese words for the Chapter, recommended reading lists, a detailed bibliography; indexing by key words and terms for the Chapter in English, Spanish, and the Wade-Giles Romanization; some commentary, and other resources for the Chapter. 

 

Ghost Town Open Mic Poetry Reading in Vancouver WA

Featuring Janis Harrington and Victor Griggs. Many other local authors read their poems. The Open Mic session went from 7 pm to 10 pm. A diverse crowd of listeners and readers.

Full Information at Printed Matter, April 2025

I thoroughly enjoyed the last three Open Mic events in our Vancouver downtown. Listening to live readings and meeting poets has greatly expanded my understanding in many positive ways. I could hardly sleep last night after these profound experiences. Some of the readings brought tears to my eyes.

Reading out load to an audience is a Performance Art, an Acting Art! I need to improve my skills in this area.

I purchased a book by Janis Harrington. I was able to talk with her before the event began. A classy lady with a sharp mind! Her poem about being a girl in a Catholic School brought back many memories of mind; because, I attended Catholic School classrooms in grades 1st to 12th.

I read my collage poem: The Bottom Line.

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic in Vancouver WA on Facebook

Open Mic Poetry Readings that I have attended.

25 Steps and Beyond:
The Collected Works of Mike Garofalo

Haiku and Quintains: Months and Seasons: Cuttings

Cuttings

Haiku, Short Verses, Epigrams
Quatrains, Couplets, Tercets
Quintains, Tankas, Sequences

By Mike Garofalo

 

Winter

January

February

March

 

Spring

April

May

June

 

Summer

July

August

September

 

Fall, Autumn

October

November

December

 

 

1998-2017: Red Bluff, Tehama County
North Sacramento Valley, California

2017-2025: Vancouver, Clark County,
Columbia River, Washington

 

Reflections on Biology

 I read the fascinating book "The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution" (2010) by Richard Dawkins.  Scientific reasoning, fact finding, predictive powers, logic, confirmed theories, the scientific community, documentation, research, analysis, pure and applied science, testing ... are subjects that always attract my keen attention.  I have read a number of books by Professor Dawkins - a first rate thinker and writer.  He is also an influential contemporary atheist, and I share is views on religion.  

The human body is over 60% water. 

The typical adult human body consists of about 60 trillion cells (6x10^13). 

There are about 60 trillion atoms in a human cell.

Inside the nucleus of each cell are the DNA genetic
codes that govern growth, structure, and reproduction.
As these DNA strands are modified or reshuffled
during millions of reproductive cycles then variations occur over time.

The earthly timeline is measured in hundreds of thousands
of millions of years for these variations to occur
and some to survive and multiply.

Fascinating!
Amazing!
Complex!

Adam Hurst and His Cello

While waiting in the Portland airport in August of 2017, I had the pleasure of meeting and talking with Adam Hurst.  He composes for and plays the cello, and has numerous albums to his credit.  

I now have four MP3 digital music albums by Adam Hurst.  I really enjoy his compositions.  In the background, they help make for a nice ambiance in my home office.  

Obscura

Ritual

From Silence

Elegy

Tao Te Ching, Chapter 25

Dao De Jing, Laozi
Chapter 25


"There was something undefined and complete, coming into existence before Heaven and Earth.
How still it was and formless, standing alone, and undergoing no change, reaching everywhere and in no danger of being exhausted!
It may be regarded as the Mother of all things.
I do not know its name, and I give it the designation of the Tao.
Making an effort to give it a name, I call it The Great.
Great, it passes on in constant flow.
Passing on, it becomes remote.
Having become remote, it returns.
Therefore the Tao is great, Heaven is great, Earth is great, and the sage king is also great.
In the universe there are four that are great, and the sage king is one of them.
Man takes his law from the Earth.
Earth takes its law from Heaven.
Heaven takes its law from the Tao.
The law of the Tao is its being what it is."
-  Translated by James Legge, 1891, Chapter 25 

"Something formless yet complete,
existing before heaven and earth.
Silent and limitless,
it stands alone and does not change.
Reaching everywhere, it does not tire.
Perhaps it is the Mother of all things under heaven.
I do not know its name
so I call it "Tao."

When I have to describe it I call it "great."
Being great it flows.
It flows far away.
Having gone far away, it returns.

Therefore, the Tao is great.
Heaven is great.
Earth is great.
People are also great.
Thus, people constitute one of the
four great things of the universe.

People conform to the earth.
The earth conforms to heaven.
Heaven conforms to the Tao.
The Tao conforms to its own nature."
-  Translated by Tolbert McCarroll, 1982, Chapter 25   

"There was a Thing, all-holding, all-complete,

Which was before existed Heaven and Earth,

Changeless! Formless! Solitary! Calm!

All-pervading! Unlimited! the birth

Of all the mighty universe concealed

Within the Motherhood not yet revealed.

I do not know its name; the Way; the Course;

The Tao, I call it; if constrained to make

A name, I call it furthermore The Great!

And Great, it passes onward and away,

Tis afar, and from afar returning flows,

The ebb of that great tide which sourceless rose.
Now then the Tao is great, and Heaven is great,

And Earth is great, and greatness is of Kings;

Within the world the greatnesses are four,

And one is he who rules over men and things;

Man takes his law from Earth; from Heaven this:

Heaven from the Tao; the Tao from what it is."
-  Translated by Isaac Winter Heysinger, 1903, Chapter 25 

"Before creation a prescience existed,
Self-contained, complete,
Formless, voiceless, mateless,
Changeless,
Which yet pervaded itself
With unending motherhood.
Though there can be no name for it,
I have called it 'the way of life.'
Perhaps I should have called it 'the fullness of life,'
Since fullness implies widening into space,
Implies still further widening,
Implies widening until the circle is whole.
In this sense
The way of life is fulfilled,
Heaven is fulfilled,
Earth fulfilled
And a fit man also is fulfilled:
These are the four amplitudes of the universe
And a fit man is one of them:
Man rounding the way of earth,
Earth rounding the way of heaven,
Heaven rounding the way of life
Till the circle is full."
-  Translated by Witter Bynner, 1944, Chapter 25  

有物混成.
先天地生.
寂兮.
為兮獨立不改.
周行而不殆.
可以為天下母.
吾不知其名.
字之曰道.
強為之名曰大.
大曰逝.
逝曰遠.
遠曰反.
故道大, 天大, 地大, 王亦大.
域中有四大, 而王居其一焉.
人法地.
地法天天法道.
道法自然. -  Chinese characters, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 25 

yu wu hun ch'êng.
hsien t'ien ti shêng.
chi hsi.
liao hsi tu li pu kai.
chou hsing erh pu tai.
k'o yi wei t'ien hsia mu.
wu erh chuh ch'i ming.
tzu chih yüeh tao.
ch'iang wei chih ming yüeh ta.
ta yüeh shih.
shih yüeh yüan.
yüan yüeh fan
ku tao ta, t'ien ta, ti ta, wang yi ta.
yü chung yu ssu ta, erh wang chü ch'i yi yen.
jên fa ti.
ti fa t'ien t'ien fa tao.
tao fa tzu jan.
-  Wade-Giles Romanization, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 25 

"There is a thing inherent and natural,
Which existed before heaven and earth.
Motionless and fathomless,
It stands alone and never changes;
It pervades everywhere and never becomes exhausted.
It may be regarded as the Mother of the Universe.
I do not know its name.
If I am forced to give it a name,
I call it Tao, and name it as supreme.
Supreme means going on;
Going on means going far;
Going far means returning.
Therefore Tao is supreme; heaven is supreme; earth is supreme; and man is also supreme.
There are in the universe four things supreme, and man is one of them.
Man follows the laws of earth;
Earth follows the laws of heaven;
Heaven follows the laws of Tao;
Tao follows the laws of its intrinsic nature."
-  Translated by Ch'u Ta-Kao, 1904, Chapter 25 

"Antes aún que el cielo y la tierra ya existía un ser inexpresable.
Es un ser vacío y silencioso, libre, inmutable y solitario.
Se encuentra en todas partes y es inagotable.
Puede que sea la Madre del universo.
No sé su nombre, pero lo llamo Tao.
Si me esfuerzo en nombrarlo lo llamo grande.
Es grande porque se extiende.
Su expansión le lleva lejos.
La lejanía le hace retornar.
El Tao, pues, es grande y el cielo es grande.
La tierra es grande y también lo es el hombre.
En el universo hay cuatro cosas grandes, y el hombre del reino es una de ellas.
El hombre sigue la ley de la tierra.
La tierra sigue la ley del cielo.
El cielo sigue la ley del Tao.
El Tao sigue su propia ley."
-  Spanish Version Online at RatMachines, Capitulo 25 

"What's behind it all?
There is a thing-kind made up of a mix.
It emerges before the cosmos.
Solitary! Inchoate!
Self grounded and unchanging.
Permeating all processes without extremity.
We can deem it the mother of the social world.
I don't know its name. When put in characters we say dao.
Forced to deem it as named, we say 'great.'
Being great, we say 'comprehensive.'
Being comprehensive, we say 'far reaching.'
Being far reaching, we say 'reverting.'
So our dao is great;
Nature (heaven) is great,
Earth is great,
and kings are also great.
Within a region are four 'greats.'
And the King occupies one of those [lofty] statuses.
Humans treat earth as a standard.
Earth treats constant nature as a standard.
Constant nature treats dao as a standard.
Dao treats being so of itself as a standard."
-  Translated by Chad Hansen, Chapter 25  

"Before the Heaven and Earth existed
There was something nebulous:
Silent, isolated,
Standing alone, changing not,
Eternally revolving without fail,
Worthy to be the Mother of All Things.
I do not know its name
And address it as Tao.
If forced to give it a name, I shall call it "Great."
Being great implies reaching out in space,
Reaching out in space implies far-reaching,
Far-reaching implies reversion to the original point.
Therefore:
Tao is Great,
The Heaven is great,
The Earth is great,
The King is also great.
There are the Great Four in the universe,
And the King is one of them.
Man models himself after the Earth;
The Earth models itself after Heaven;
The Heaven models itself after Tao;
Tao models itself after nature."
-  Translated by Lin Yutang, 1955, Chapter 25  

"Before the creation of Heaven and Earth,
there was something complete and without purpose.
Silent and desolate. Standing alone and unchanging. Cyclic and untiring.
Able to be the Mother beneath Heaven.

I do not know its Name. Its character is 'Tao'.
Powerful and Great; its Greatness spreads,
spreads into the distance, and from the distance, returns.

Hence Tao is great. Heaven is great. Earth is great.
The King also is great.
The Middle Kingdom has four greats, and the King is one.

Man follows the ways of the Earth.
Earth follows the way of Heaven.
Heaven follows the way of Tao.
And Tao follows its own ways."
-  Translated by Karl Kromal, 2002, Chapter 25 

A typical webpage created by Mike Garofalo for each one of the 81 Chapters (Verses, Sections) of the Tao Te Ching (Daodejing) by Lao Tzu (Laozi) includes over 25 different English language translations or interpolations for that Chapter, 5 Spanish language translations for that Chapter, the Chinese characters for that Chapter, the Wade-Giles and Hanyu Pinyin transliterations (Romanization) of the Mandarin Chinese words for that Chapter, and 2 German and 1 French translation of that Chapter.  Each webpage for each one of the 81 Chapters of the Tao Te Ching includes extensive indexing by key words, phrases, and terms for that Chapter in English, Spanish, and the Wade-Giles Romanization.  Each webpage on a Chapter of the Daodejing includes recommended reading in books and websites, a detailed bibliography, some commentary, research leads, translation sources, a Google Translate drop down menu, and other resources for that Chapter.   

Chapter 25, Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

Chapter and Thematic Index (Concordance) to the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

English Language Daodejing Translators' Source Index

Spanish Language Daodejing Translators' Source Index

Ripening Peaches: Taoist Studies and Practices

Taoism: A Selected Reading List

One Old Daoist Druid's Final Journey