Trip to Spokane for a Wedding

7/19   Vancouver WA, Interstate 84 to Biggs Junction OR
7/19   Toppenish WA, Yakima Legends Hotel and Casino
7/20   Spokane WA, Northwest Quest Hotel and Casino  
7/21   Spokane WA, Roberts Mansion Inn and Events
7/23   Drive west from Spokane via Interstate 90 to Seattle, then via Interstate 5 through Tacoma, Olympia, Centralia, Longview, and ending at our home in the Orchards Neighborhood in Vancouver.     
I want to return to Cle Elum and the Wenatchee National Forest rocky peaks.  

Hung out with Bud Yarber (father of the bride) and Helen, Jim and Liz Yarber,
Karen and I. We visited the Klikna-Yarber house east of Spokane in Idaho. 
Lovely trees everywhere, hills and mountains, many businesses along I90.   
Roberts Mansion was built in 1890, Victorian style, lovely venue for wedding.
7/22   Spokane WA, Roberts Mansion, Nicholas Klikna and Gayla Yarber Wedding

Weddings 1:
two nights sleeping in a 1890 Victorian house
high ceilings, ornate wood work, steep stairs
soft bed and tiny toilets.
meals with our nephews and wives
talking, laughing, remembering.
comfortable temperatures (high of 83)
trip out to Rathdrum Prairie  
Nick and Gayla's home and happy dogs
lovely back porch and gazebo in back yard.
Texas Roundhouse for dinner
some who I met when they were 10 are 60 now - our nephews

Weddings 2:
kisses and hugs
laughing, reminiscing, chatting, learning
multi-ages from 3 months to 75 me
brief officiant's talk about sex and marriage (with Biblical references)
I do's Said and Commitments made
best toasts ever, sincere and positive for both bride and groom 
parents and grand-parents, children, uncles and aunts, families intertwined by Lovers

Weddings 3.5 

drinks (wine, beer, soft drinks)
Mexican food buffet, ]pulled pork-salsa-guacamole-beans-tortillas delights[
custom cup cakes covered in creamy toppings 
shady venue

Weddings 3:
sex and ceremonies
exhuberant youth
beautiful women and handsome men (and a few not so)
dancing and dallying
kisses and hugs
Groom and groomsmen smoking quality cigars
I joined with my Bootylicious joint from Bacon Buds
listening to a few bawdy jokes, limericks, and raw sex rap lyrics
thinking of how many times my wife and I had intercourse in one day

Tao Te Ching, Chapter 49, Verse 1, Translations

Daodejing by Laotzu
Chapter 49
Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
Chapter Order in Wang Bi's Daodejing Commentary in 246 CE

Translations into English of Chapter 49, Verse 1



The Wise Person has no Ego,
He identifies himself with the universe.

The Sage has no set heart.
Ordinary people's hearts
Become the Sage's heart.

The wise man has no fixed opinions to call his own.
He accommodates himself to the minds of others.

The sage has no mind of his own.
He takes the minds of the people as his own.

A wise ruler has no preconceived ideas,
He adopts the people's ideas as his own.

The sage has no mind of his own.
He is aware of the needs of others.

Sages never have a mind of their own;
they consider the minds of the common people to be their mind.

The sage has no mind of her own.
She is at one with all of humanity.

The Tao–Master does not have his heart set on anything in particular.
He wants to understand the hearts of the people.

The Sage is free of the law of fixed belief;
It reflects the heart of every seeker.

The Complete Thinker has no interests of their own,
But takes the interests of the people as their own.

The Sage is without a set mind.
He makes the mind of the people his own.

The Taoist has no opinions
He simply listens, and acts

The wise man has no fixed opinions to call his own.
He accommodates himself to the minds of others.

sheng ren wu chang xin.
yi bai xing xin wei xin.

shêng jên wu ch'ang hsin.
yi pai hsing hsin wei hsin.

The Sage has no decided opinions and feelings,
But regards the people's opinions and feelings as his own.

The wise leader does not impose a personal agenda or value system on the group.
The leader follows the group's lead and is open to whatever emerges.

The sage's heart is not unchangeable,
He makes his own the people' s heart and will,

The Sage has no interests of his own,
But takes the interests of the people as his own.

The sage has no set mind.
She adopts the concerns of others as her own.

The Saint has no fixed mind.
He makes the mind of the people his own,

The sage is never opinionated,
He listens to the mind of the people.

Sages have no mind-set.
They take common people's concerns as theirs.

The wise man hath no fixed principle;
he adapted his mind to his environment.

The Heart of the self-controlled man is always in the Inner Kingdom.
He draws the hearts of all men into his Heart.

The Sage’s heart is not immutable;
he regards the people’s heart as his own.

The wise have no mind-set.
They regard the people's minds as their own.

Der Berufene hat kein eigenes Herz.
Er macht das Herz der Leute zu seinem Herzen.

Der Weyse hat kein selbstsüchtiges Herz,
unvoreingenommen nimmt er die Herzen
der anderen in sich auf.

The great men did not have a fixed will;
they made the people's will their own.

The Sage has no self to call his own.
He makes the self of the people his self.

El Sabio no tiene intereses propios,
Hace suyos los intereses del pueblo.

El Sabio no tiene intereses propios,
pero hace suyos los interesesde la gente.

A sound man's heart is not shut within itself
But is open to other people's hearts:

Evolved Individuals have no fixed mind;
They make the mind of the People their mind.

Le Saint n'a point de sentiments immuables.
Il adopte les sentiments du peuple.

El sabio es constante en su mente,
hace de la mente del pueblo su propia mente.

El sabio carece siempre de espíritu propio,
hace suyo el espíritu del pueblo.

The best ruler has no personal ideas
And what the people think is what he/she thinks.

The sage has no invariable mind of his own;
he makes the mind of the people his mind.


Process Philosophy

Positive Psychology



Mind, Self, and Society: The Definitive Edition. By George Herbert Mead. Originally published in 1934 by his students. Edited by Charles W. Morris. Annotated Edition by Daniel R. Huebner and Hans Joas. University of Chicago Press, 2015, index, bibliography, appendix, supplementary essays, notes, 515 pages.

Reality as a Social Process: Studies in Metaphysics and Religion. By Charles Hartshorne. Free Press, 1953, 223 pages.

Reenchantment Without Supernaturalism: A Process Philosophy of Religion. By David Ray Griffin. Cornell University Press, 2000, 440 pages. 

Our minds are, indeed, formed and evolved from our habits of body-mind and our existing social/educational life.
Your family is one key root of your personality.    
We need to have an open, flexible, modifiable approach to learning and knowing.
Our changing personal needs are furthered by good social relations.
We ride the surf of change in life always with others.
Avoid inflexible and "certain" attitudes and opinions.    
Adapt your thinking to your environment.  

-  Michael P. Garofalo, Chapter 49, Verse 1

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 includes a Google Translate option menu for reading the entire webpage in many other languages.  Each webpage for each one of the 81 Chapters of the Tao Te Ching [246 CE Wang Bi version] includes extensive indexing by key words, phrases, and terms (concordance) 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, links, research leads, translator sources, and other resources for that Chapter.  

     A Top Tier online free resource for English and Spanish readers, researchers, Daoist devotees, scholars, students, fans and fellow travelers on the Way. 

Chapter 49, Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu  Chapter 49

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

Process Philosophy

One Old Daoist Druid's Final Journey  

How to Live a Good Life: Advice from Wise Persons

Daodejing  Chapter Number Index Standard Traditional Chapter Arrangement of the Daodejing Chapter Order in Wang Bi's Daodejing Commentary in 246 CE Chart by Mike Garofalo Index
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40
41	42	43	44	45	46	47	48	49	50
51	52	53	54	55	56	57	58	59	60
61	62	63	64	65	66	67	68	69	70
71	72	73	74	75	76	77	78	79	80
81

The Art of Little Trees

I have enjoyed growing plants in pots since I was a child.  We still grow many small tomatoes in pots in our back yard in the summer.  Here is a display of one of our bonsai.  

When I was a teenager in 1960, I used the Montebello Library and their bonsai art books.  Many of the bonsai photos, back then, were in black and white.  Now there are many bonsai books in full color.  The worked from 1962-1968 for the City of Commerce Public Library in East Los Angeles.  

The Montebello Library housed the Asian-Pacific Resource Center back in 1998.  The Montebello Library is a Regional Library of the County of Los Angeles Public Library System.  

I was employed by the Country Library in 1974 as a reference librarian at the old Compton Library; and, many years later, after promotions and successes, I decided to retire in 1998 from my position as the Regional Administrator of East Region of the County Library.  I moved to Red Bluff, California, and in 1999 became the District Librarian and Technology and Media Services Supervisor for the Corning Union Elementary School District (K-8, 2,300 students) and worked till 70 years of age. 

I held many thousand's of books and many media products in my hands, and boxes of these inanimate objects, from 1963-2017.  

I believe that millions of minds were informed, entertained, educated, persuaded, uplifted, and prepared to pass along and act on our common culture starting in 1962, and back then our talk about what our "future" was to be in 1963-1998 in East Los Angeles.  '

Hands, Touching, Moving, Feeling, Manipulating on Command

A Hypertext Notebook by Mike Garofalo  

Holding a book
reading
2019
Vancouver
WA

They Speak to Me, and My Heart Soars

"The beauty of the trees,
the softness of the air,
the fragrance of the grass,
speaks to me.
The summit of the mountain,
the thunder of the sky,
speaks to me.
The faintness of the stars,
the trail of the sun,
the strength of fire,
and the life that never goes away,
they speak to me.
And my heart soars."
-  Chief Dan George  

"I did however used to think, you know, in the woods walking, and as a kid playing the the woods, that there was a kind of immanence there - that woods, a places of that order, had a sense, a kind of presence, that you could feel; that there was something peculiarly, physically present, a feeling of place almost conscious ... like God.  It evoked that."
-  Robert Creely, Robert Creely and the Genius of the American Common Place, p. 40   


"I like to walk about amidst the beautiful things that adorn the world."
- George Santayana

Zen Poetry

Buddhism

Haiku Poetry

Gardening and Spirituality

Trees

Dao De Jing, Laozi, Chapter 14

Tao Te Ching, by Lao Tzu

Chapter 14


"Look for It, you won't see It: It is called 'fleeting'.
Listen for It, you won't hear It: It is called 'thin'. 
Grasp at It, You can't get It: It is called 'subtle'.
These three lines
       are about something that evades scrutiny.
Yes, in it everything blends and becomes one.

Its top is not bright
Its underside is not dim.
Always unnameable, It turns back to nothingness. 
This is the shape of something shapeless
The form of a nothing
this is elusive and evasive. 
Encountering It, you won't see the front
Following It, you won't see Its back.

Keep to the Tao of the ancients
And so manage things happening today.
The ability to know the ancient sources,
this is the main thread of Tao."
-  Translated by Michael LaFargue, 1992, Chapter 14 



"When you're sitting, trying to get in touch with the Softness, the One important thing, it evades your grasp─like a spirit that appears here, then there, then is gone.  You think you see it, then it recedes into nothing.  This is the only way to describe the presence that is formless.  But in this practice we achieve a oneness.  And we come in contact with the deep sources of all things, the ancient sources that enable us to handle whatever comes to us today."  ...  "I take "know the ancient sources" of things to mean gaining an intuitive understanding of the deep truth about affairs.  (As often, "ancient" serves to express what we more commonly express by images of "depth" or "Origin."  (Note that here Tao is not the name of the ancient source that one knows, but of the practice by which one comes to know it.)  It seems very unlikely that "these three" refers to the three different things mentioned [i.e., seeing, listening, grasping] which "become one."  It makes more sense to suppose that "these three" refers to the three line saying, which is about a presence or mental quality incapable of being grasped through close mental scrutiny.  in this mental space everything is Merged, "blends and becomes one."  This observation is a partial basis for my solution to the puzzle about the meaning of Chapter 1, reading literally "these two, merged."  That is, it refers to the previous two-line saying in Chapter 1, which is (partly) about the state of "not desiring," which identifies with a mentally Still state called t'ung/"The Merging.""
-  Michael LaFargue  


The Tao of the Tao Te Ching.  A Translation and Commentary by Michael LaFargue.  State University of New York Press, 1992.  Detailed glossary, extensive bibliography, 270 pages. This translation is based on the oldest version ( 168 BCE) of the Tao Te Ching found in King Ma's tomb - the famous Magwandali manscript.  81 Chapters arranged in a topical order by the author.  Chapter 14, pp. 80-81. 


The Tao and Method: A Reasoned Approach to the Tao Te Ching.  A translation and commentary by Professor Michael LaFargue.  New York, SUNY Press, 1994.  640 pages.  Detailed index, bibliography, notes, and tables.  An essential research tool. 

"What you don't see when you look
is called the unobtrusive.
What you don hear when you listen
is called the rarefied.
What you don't get when you grasp
is called the subtle.
These three cannot be completely fathomed,
so they merge into one:
above is not bright, below is not dark.
Continuous, unnameable, it returns again to
     nothing.
This is called the stateless state,
the image of no thing;
this is called mental abstraction.
When you face it you do not see its head,
when you follow it you do not see its back.
Hold the ancient Way
so as to direct present existence:
only when you can know the ancient
can this be called the basic cycle of the Way."
-  Translated by Thomas Cleary, 1991, Chapter 14


"Looked at, but cannot be seen -
That is called the Invisible (yi).
Listened to, but cannot be heard -
That is called the Inaudible (hsi).
Grasped at, but cannot be touched -
That is called the Intangible (wei).
These three elude our inquiries
And hence blend and become One.

Not by its rising, is there light,
Nor by its sinking, is there darkness.
Unceasing, continuous,
It cannot be defined,
And reverts again to the realm of nothingness.

That is why it is called the Form of the Formless,
The Image of Nothingness.
That is why it is called the Elusive:
Meet it and you do not see its face;
Follow it and you do not see its back."
-  Translated by Lin Yutang, 1955, Chapter 14  




視之不見名曰夷.
聽之不聞名曰希.
搏之不得名曰微.
此三者不可致詰.
故混而為一.
其上不皦其下不昧.
繩繩不可名.
復歸於無物.
是謂無狀之狀.
無物之象.
是謂惚恍.
迎之不見其首.
隨之不見其後.
執古之道.
以御今之有.
能知古始.
是謂道紀.-  Chinese characters, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 14


shih chih pu chien ming yüeh yi.
t'ing chih pu wên ming yüeh hsi.
po chih pu tê ming yüeh wei.
tz'u san chê pu k'o chih chieh.
ku hun erh wei yi.
ch'i shang pu chiao ch'i hsia pu mei.
shêng shêng pu k'o ming.
fu kuei yü wu wu.
shih wei wu chuang chih chuang.
wu wu chih hsiang.
shih wei hu huang.
ying chih pu chien ch'i shou.
sui chih pu chien ch'i hou.
chih ku chih tao.
yi yü chin chih yu.
nêng chih ku shih.
shih wei tao chi.
-  Wade-Giles Romanization, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 14


"We look for it but do not see it:
    we name it "subtle."
We listen for it but do not hear it;
    we name it "rare."
We grope for it but do not grasp it;
    we name it "serene."
These three cannot be fully fathomed,
Therefore,
They are bound together to make unity.
Of unity,
its top is not distant,
its bottom is not blurred.
Infinitely extended
and unnameable,
It returns to non-entity.
This is called
"the form of the formless,"
"the image of nonentity."
This is called "the amorphous."
Following behind it,
    you cannot see its back;
Approaching it from the front,
    you cannot see its head.
Hold to the Way of today
    to manage the actualities of today
    thereby understanding the primeval beginning.
This is called "the thread of the Way.""
-  Translated by Victor H. Mair, 1990, Chapter 14 


"When you look, it isn't there
 Listen and you cannot hear it
 It seems to be beyond your reach
 Because you are so near it
 This single source of everything
 Appears to be an empty image
 Though it cannot be understood
 You can see its naked visage
 Follow it to nothingness
 Approach it where you have no face
 From nowhere to infinity
 This vacant image leaves no trace
 From never to eternity
 This naked face is what you are
 An empty, vacant, open door
 Forevermore ajar"
 -  Translated by Jim Clatfelder, 2000, Chapter 14   


"Se le llama invisible porque mirándole no se le ve.
Se le llama inaudible porque escuchándole no se le oye.
Se le llama impalpable porque tocándole no se le siente.
Estos tres estados son inescrutables y se confunden en uno solo.
En lo alto no es luminoso, en lo bajo no es oscuro.
Es eterno y no puede ser nombrado, retorna al no-ser de las cosas.
Es la forma sin forma y la imagen sin imagen.
Es lo confuso e inasible.
De frente no ves su rostro, por detrás no ves su espalda.
Quien es fiel al Tao antiguo domina la existencia actual.
Quien conoce el primitivo origen posee la esencia del Tao."   
-  Translation from Wikisource, 2013, Tao Te Ching, Capítulo 14


"Look at it: nothing to see.
Call it colorless.
Listen to it: nothing to hear.
Call it soundless.
Reach for it: nothing to hold.
Call it intangible.
Triply undifferentiated,
it merges into oneness,
not bright above,
not dark below.
Never, oh! never
can it be named.
It reverts, it returns
to unbeing.
Call it the form of the unformed,
the image of no image.
Call it the unthinkable thought.
Face it: no face.
Follow it: no end.
Hold fast to the old Way,
we can live in the present.
Mindful of the ancient beginnings,
we hold the thread of the Tao."
-  Translated by Ursula K. Le Guin, 1997, Chapter 14 


"Look, it cannot be seen,
So it is called invisible.
Listen, it cannot be heard,
So it is called soundless.
Touch, it cannot be caught,
So it is called elusive.
These three cannot be examined,
So they unite into one.  
Above it there is no light,  
Below it there is no darkness.
Endlessness beyond description.
It returns to non-existence.
It is called the shapeless shape,
The substance without form.
It is called obscurely evasive.
Meet it and you do not see its beginning,
Follow it and you do not see its end.
Hold on to the ancient Way to master the present,
And to learn the distant beginning.
This is called the unbroken strand of the Way."
-  Translated by Stefan Stenudd, Chapter 14


"Looking for it, it cannot be seen -
Being formless, it is called Yi, the invisible.
Listening to it, it cannot be heard -
Being soundless, it is called Hsi, the inaudible.
Grasping at it, it cannot be reached -
Being subtle, it is called Wei, the intangible.
These three; imperceptible, indescribable -
Mystically united and elusively perceived
as an undefinable oneness.

As the oneness ascends - no light appears.
As the oneness descends - no darkness is perceived.
Unceasingly, continually, form eluding definition,
Evasively reverting to spirit - to nothingness.
The form of formlessness.
The image of imagelessness.
The oneness remains nameless.
Meeting it, it has no part which is front.
Following it, it has no behind.

Encompassing the ancient Tao,
Present affairs are mastered.
Knowing the primal nature of mankind
and the universe,
Is to know the essence of Tao."
-  Translated by Alan B. Taplow, 1982, Chapter 14 


 "Plainness is that which cannot be seen by looking at it.
 Stillness is that which cannot be heard by listening to it.
 Rareness is that which cannot be felt by handling it.
 These, being indiscernible, may be regarded as a Unity of the Tao.
 It is not bright above nor dark beneath.
 Infinite in operation, it is yet without name.
 Issuing forth it enters into Itself.
 This is the appearance of the Non-Apparent, the form of the Non-Existent.
 This is the unfathomable mystery.
 Going before, its face is not seen; following after, its back is not observed.
 Yet to regulate one's life by the ancient knowledge of Tao is to have found the path."
 -  Translated by Walter Gorn Old, 1904, Chapter 14

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 14, 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

A Daoist Druid's Final Journey  

An Old Philosopher's Notebooks

Lincoln City in Oregon

 I enjoyed three days of vacationing along Highway 101 along the Pacific Coast.  I explored the area between Newport and Lincoln City, Oregon.  It was very windy (10-15 mph onshore breeze) and cool 50F-65F.  

I walked down to the shore line.
The swirling surf sounds drowned out all other sounds.
The waves pounding sand, splashing, foaming white and gone.  
The dry sand flew in my face, windblown cold.  

During July, hundreds of thousands of tourists enjoy the many cities (restaurants, stores, motels, resources), harbors, rivers, estuaries, wildlife refuges and scenic attractions along the Pacific Coast in Oregon.  I really enjoy visiting the coastal cities during all the months of the year.  

A favorite month for Pacific Ocean adventures is October, and I already have reservations for a Twin Harbors SP cabin near Westport, Gray's Harbor, Washington,  in October 2021.  

The Yaquina River and the Siletz River draw freshwater from the coastal ranges down to the harbors at the sea.  Communities of human beings, fishing/hunting and gathering and tool using for subsistence, have lived here for thousands of years.  

I left Newport at 6:30 am, stopped for gas and restroom breaks, to Grand Ronde, to McMinville, Forest Grove, and up Oregon 47 to Oregon 26 and into Portland and home.  

Depoe Bay in Oregon

Headed down to Depoe Bay
today, Sunday.

Going all back roads, new ways, over the coastal range
ending in the Siletz River bay. 
Going alone, Karen stays home with two friends from Grants Pass. 
The smells of the sea are drawing me!
 

Siletz River in Oregon 2012

Moolack Beach Area
South of Beverly Beach State Park, Oregon
July 2021

Lost Creek Beach
South of South Beach State Park, Oregon
July 2021
I can stretch out in the back of my Ford Escape,
and get out of the cold wind.
Sitting, walking, and reading for many hours by the sea shore.  
I sipped a large cafe mocha and chewed a delicious biscotti.  

Enjoyed the views and sounds of the surf.

Tried to walk down
             a steep trail

to the sea shore,
             almost slipping,
so I sat down,
let other hikers pass;
then crawled up on all fours
          back up the rocky hill
                                            until
I could stand on sandy soil
              without wobbblliing,
and retreat to places safe.    

Something easy at 25
is not so easy at 75;
especially if your 75
and stoned on Blue Dream Fives. 

-  Michael P. Garofalo
   Moolack Beach, Oregon, July 2021
                               

Newport Harbor in Oregon

 Staying two nights, Saturday and Sunday, in the City of Newport on the Oregon Coast.  Yaquina Bay is a delightful scene.  The City of 12,000 is very busy in the summer  months.  I take Route 34 west from Interstate 5 to Corvalis, and Oregon State University, then on Route 20 west over the coastal range to Newport.  A beautiful drive through farmlands and forests, river valleys, and mountains up to 1,500 feet to climb over on good and busy Route 20.  

Karen is staying at home in Vancouver with two friends from Grant's Pass.  The three ladies will enjoy themselves.  One lady, Caroline, will have some surgery on her jaw on Monday at OSHU in Portland.  Hopefully, all will go well for her with no complications.  

It is much cheaper to stay in motels on the coast during the October - March time of the year.  Summer prices are doubled.  

I am going to Twin Harbors State Park in October in Westport, Washington.  This time, Mick and I are going to go out on the Pacific in a half-day fishing trip from Westport Harbor.   The Gray's Harbor area includes the cities of Aberdeen, the largest city on the Pacific Coast of Washington, Ocean Shores, and Westport.

I really enjoy visiting the Pacific Ocean and seaside cities in Oregon and Washington.  Since 1998,  we have travelled extensively on the Pacific Coast from Bodega Bay in California to Neah Bay in Washington.  We have crossed all the paved roads from Interstate 5 west through the Holly Bollys, Siskiyous, and the Oregon and Washington coastal ranges.  

  

The Rain of Our Reality

 

A Sunday in July

Children playing in shallow river pools;
fat grandpas sleeping in the shade.

Burnt leaves on sagging shrubs;
robins munching on wiggling worms.

Cold beer and crispy chips;
music playing from cellphone chips.

I watched them baptize a weeping woman,
now saved from the fires of hell,
safe and soaking wet.

A firecracker cut the laughter,
dogs barked, babies cried,
the smell of powder smoked by.

Hamburgers coated in ketchup red,
laced with lettuce on tired bread,
bit by bit down the hatch,
bellies satisfied at last.

Corndogs and cornbread,
beans and coleslaw;
dirty paper plates in paper bags,
pink vomit on the green grass. 

Riverbed rocks bit their cold toes,
mosquitoes bit their sun burnt backs,
lovers bit their aroused lips,
infants bit their mommies tits.

Dry ground,
centuries of death things
underfoot,
covered by a grey wool blanket
hiding this Distant Past. 

In this way on this day
the thousands of drip drops of experiences
make up
the rain of our reality. 

- Lewis River Park, Battleground, Clark County, Washington
  By Michael P. Garofalo, Poetry 

 

New Ways of Explaining Perceptions

What counts as "a perception" or "perceptions?"
These authors argue for an expanded notion of perceptions grounded in our lived human experiences in temporal body-mind frameworks.  

I am studying the following three books:

Reenchantment Without Supernaturalism: A Process Philosophy of Religion. By David Ray Griffin. Cornell University Press, 2000, 440 pages. 

The Mind of Charles Hartshorne: A Critical Examination. By Donald Wayne Viney and George W. Shields. Process Century Press, 2020, 584 pages. 

Whitehead, Alfred North. Process and Reality, 1927. Gifford Lectures delivered in the University of Edinburgh during the Session 1927-1928.  Published in 1929. Corrected Edition (1978) by David Ray Griffin and Donald W. Sherburne. New York, Free Press, 1978. Index (pp.355-387), editor's notes (pp.391-413), paperbound, 413 pages. VSCL: I own both the paperback copy and the eBook Kindle copy.

Process Philosophy   My hypertext notebook on the subject.  

Cresting Into One's Present

"This nondescript, never-to-be-defined daytime is
The secret of where it takes place
And we can no longer return to the various
Conflicting statements gathered, lapses of memory
Of the principal witnesses. All we know
Is that we are a little early, that
Today has that special, lapidary
Todayness that the sunlight reproduces
Faithfully in casting twig-shadows on blithe
Sidewalks. No previous day would have been like this.
I used to think they were all alike,
That the present always looked the same to everybody
But this confusion drains away as one
Is always cresting into one's present."
- John Ashbery, Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror

Time and Becoming

Process Philosophy

"But all the clocks in the city
     Began to whirr and chime:
"O let not Time deceive you,
     You cannot conquer time.

"In the burrows of the Nightmare
     Where Justice naked is,
Time watches from the shadow
     And coughs when you would kiss.

"In headaches and in worry
     Vaguely life leaks away,
And Time will have his fancy
     To-morrow or to-day.

"Into many a green valley
     Drifts the appalling snow;
Time breaks the threaded dances
     And the diver's brilliant bow.

"The glacier knocks in the cupboard,
     The desert sighs in the bed,
And the crack in the tea-cup opens
     A lane to the land of the dead."
-  W. H. Auden, As I Walked Out One Evening, 1937 

Common Ground

 

"With a cultured of mistrust, how do we create community?  How do we find common ground?
Common ground.
Perhaps that is the place to start.  No matter what we think of one another's religious beliefs or practices, we do all stand on the same ground.  We share the same earth.  The same sun rises and sets on all of us.  Doesn't this transcend our doctrinal differences?

Millennia ago, early people's personified the sun and earth─ made deities of them, worshipped them.  Our modern scientific understanding of natural phenomenon makes it unreasonable for us to do that.  But surely we can share their reverence.  Surely we can follow their example of respect for the earth, the air, the water─ and be healthier and happier for it.

    If there is a theme that runs through the history of rituals related to the earth's seasons, it is renewal.  The wheel turns and the old season gives way to the new, the old year to the new, the old life to the new.  Each planting of seeds promises new possibilities.  Each harvest brings sustenance for yet another year.  each fallow time regenerates the life of the soil.  The sun deities retreat and return.  The grain goddesses are lost and restored.  The vegetation gods die and rise again.  The cycle of life goes on and on, birth after death after birth.  Perhaps what all the rituals celebrate is this continuity of life, the miraculous natural world that makes it possible, and our abiding connection to it."
-  By Patricia Montley, In Nature's Honor, 2005.    

Process Philosophy

Neo-Pagan Views

Independence Day or Dependence Day

My Midsummer Celebrations in 2021 include: the Summer Solstice rites, Olympics in Tokyo, NBA Finals, Tour de France, the Fourth of July, Father's Day, local travel, gardening, and reading poetry.

We are very pleased that Clark County has finally banned the sale and use of fireworks--- a stinking, loud, and dangerous bad habit in urban America. I prefer the smells and colors of Roses to the stench of fizzling fireworks.

In America, the 4th of July is a National Holiday.  Americans celebrate our "Independence Day" on this day.  Family gatherings, outdoor meals, games and sports, visiting with friends, and summer fun activities are all popular.  Some towns also have patriotic parades.

I prefer to call today "Dependence Day" to reflect views of Inter-Being, community cooperation and peace, working together, finding "common ground," cooperation, ecology, etc.  

I hope everyone has a very safe and peaceful 4th of July weekend holiday.  

May we all be able to find a government that enables us to create and work for a better life, respect liberty, and pursue happiness.  May be enjoy freedom from religious oppression, and be allowed to speak our minds in a civil manner.  May we avoid hatred, fear, stealing, lying, and fighting for impractical idealistic causes.  We should not enslave people, disrespect the rights of women, and persecute minorities.  Let us encourage gun free zones in our civil society.  Let us cultivate peace, tolerance, patience, and prosperity.  Let us work at our jobs diligently, intelligently, creatively, and with pride.  Let us preserve and protect our environment for future generations.  Let is strive for good health, vitality, and positive mental health.  Let us mind our own business when appropriate, and avoid listening to men with extreme and angry opinions and facile solutions to difficult problems.  Let us encourage kindness, generosity, simplicity, and community cooperation.  May reason and justice be our guides.  May we deliberate calmly and avoid extreme and inflexible opinions.  May we remember and respect the hardworking and decent wise women and men of the past. 

Best wishes to everyone!