Yurt Camping and Travel Preparations

I will be Yurt Camping at Dosewallips State Park on the Hood Canal near the village of Brinnon, Washington.  I will arrive Monday, May 6th and leave for home on May 9th, 2024.  I will be exploring the area from Shelton to Port Townsend, mostly on 101 along the west side of the Hood Canal.  

I will be yurt camping at Grayland Beach State Park, near Westport, Washington, from June 3rd to June 6.  Karen and I will also be staying at resorts in Shelton, Port Townsend, and Forks in 2024. We stayed in Port Angeles, Bemerton, Lake Quinault, and Ocean Shores in 2023.  Karen and I drove south from Port Townsend to Olympia down 101 via the Hood Canal in 2019 and in 2010.  We have been exploring along Highway 101 (The Olympic Highwaay) from Ilwaco to Olympia, Washington. Basically, we have been exploring the Olympic Peninsula, Olympic National Park, and the Olympic National Forest.  

I will focus on local travel in four days along the Hood Canal from Shelton to Port Townsend.

Vancouver WA  110 miles north to Olympia

Olympia WA  23 miles north to Shelton

Shelton WA  41 miles north to Brinnon

Shelton WA  - Images

Shelton WA  - Information

Hood Canal, Fjord, WA

Lake Cushman, WA

Skokomish Twana Native Americans

Skokomish River, WA, Images

Potlach State Park

Hoodsport WA

Liliwalup

Hamma Hamma

Duckabuch

Brinnon WA

Dosewallips State Park WA  39 miles north to Port Townsend

Dosewallips SP Images  13 miles north to Quilcene

Dosewallips SP Campground

Dosewallips River Images

Dosewallips Oyster and Clam Harvesting

Quilcene

Dabob Bay

Port Townsend  215 miles south to Vancouver

Four Days at Grayland: Extensive Travel Guides, Yurt Camping notes, local cities and villages, reports, commentary, Yurt Camping Information, Native American Information.  Yurt camping on the coast in Oregon and Washington.  

Tai Chi Chuan at the Beach: Please join Michael P. Garofalo for a Taijiquan Meetup/Gathering/Retreat at Dosewallips State Park, 7 am, Yurt C.  I hang a kite on my Yurt that is shaped like a Salmon Fish.  Campfire chats and a little practice sharing.

The best book I used to study general travel options for the Hood Canal
for my trip in May 2024 was:
Olympic Peninsula with Olympic National Park. By Jeff Burlingame.
Moon, 5th Edition, 2024.

Planning and Preparation:

I have been busy identifying and reorganing my camping, recreation, hiking, fishing, and travel equipment.  I updated and purchased new gear for our home back porch improvements, fishing, walking, sighseeing, yurt camping, travel and recreation. I updated my 10 year old Keen boots for high top Danner boots and lightweight Merrill treking boots..  I organized all my outdoor clothing.  Updated my medical bag.  Purchased a small MP3 player.  Purchased many guide and history books for my Olympic Peninsula travels.  Car care, maintainence, and new battery. Getting reading for more Springtime and Summer travel, yurt camping, hiking, fishing, walking, writing.  I am ready for walking in the rain; and updated my Kelty backpack and sling pack, and all necessary rain gear.

 

Four Days in Grayland  Camping at the Beach, Northwest Coastal Travels

Yurt Camping in the Coastal Pacific Northwest by Michael P. Garofalo.

Feeling the Touch, Touching to Feel

"There are several basic kinds of touch that you may experience:  Intimate -- Here, your pressure receptors respond to a handshake, hug or kiss. If the person giving the touch is someone you care about, you'll probably feel warm and comforted. Your pressure sensors send the feeling of how hard the embrace is, and your brain interprets the nature of the touch as soothing.  Healing or therapeutic -- This type of touch is often associated with massage or acupuncture. Sometimes, the pressure is gentle and meant to soothe sore muscles. Other times, the pressure is deep in order to work out knots. Despite differences in severity of pressure, you likely to be aware that the outcome is healing, so your body allows you to relax.  Exploratory or inquisitive -- We all learn about the world through our sense of touch. Many people test out foods, fabrics or other objects by feeling different textures. Sometimes it's possible to rely solely on the sense of touch. This is why it's easy for you to reach into your bag and find a pair of keys without looking. You know the cold feeling of the metal key and hard smooth feel of your plastic key chain.  Aggressive or painful -- Of course, we all know that touch can also equate to pain if the pressure is too much and the intent is wrong. A handshake that's too firm can be uncomfortable instead of reassuring."

-  Psychology of Touching

"The hand is so widely represented in the brain, the hand's neurologic and biomechanical elements are so prone to spontaneous interaction and reorganization, and the motivations and efforts which give rise to individual use of the hand are so deeply and widely rooted, that we must admit that we are trying to explain a basic imperative of human life."
-  Frank R. Wilson, M.D., The Hand, p. 10

“If a thing can be said to be, to exist, then such is the nature of these expansive times that this thing which is must suffer to be touched. Ours is a time of connection; the private, and we must accept this, and it’s a hard thing to accept, the private is gone. All must be touched. All touch corrupts. All must be corrupted."
-  Tony Kushner, Homebody/Kabul

"Fine art is that in which the hand, the head, and the heart of man go together."
-  John Ruskin 

Touching

The Five Senses 

Daodejing, Laozi, Chapter 61

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
Chapter 61


"A great nation flows down To be the world's pool,
The female under heaven In stillness
The female constantly overcomes the male,
In stillness Takes the low place.
Therefore a great nation Lowers itself
And wins over a small one.
A small nation keeps itself low
And wins over a great one.
Sometimes becoming low wins,
Sometimes staying low wins.
A great nation desires nothing more
Than to unite and protect people.
A small nation desires nothing more
Than to enter the service of people.
When both get what they wish
The great one should be low."
-  Translated by Stephen Addis, 1993, Chapter 61  

"A great state is like a great river,

Down flowing with movement and life,

Of all under heaven the union,

Of all under heaven the wife.

Consider the female, the woman

Overcomes by her quietude wholly,

Some make themselves lowly to conquer,

Some conquer because they are lowly.

And so a great state condescending

 Will win smaller states to unite,

And small states, themselves by abasement

Will conquer far more than by fight.

If the great state desire but to nourish,

And the small to preserve and extend,

Then each has secured what it sought for,

But to do this the great one must bend."
-  Translated by Isaac Winter Heysinger, 1903, Chapter 61  

"A great kingdom, lowly like running water, is the Meeting-place of the world.
It is the feminine quality of the world.
The feminine quality always overcomes the masculine by stillness.
In order to be still, we must become lowly.
Therefore, if a great kingdom is lowly towards a little kingdom it will take possession of the little kingdom.
If a little kingdom is lowly towards a great kingdom it will take possession of the great kingdom.
So one becomes lowly in order to conquer,
The other is lowly and yet it conquers.
If a great kingdom only desires to unify and nourish men,
If a small kingdom only desires to enter in and serve men,
Then the Master, in each case, shall obtain his desire.
He who is great ought to be lowly."
-  Translated by Isabella Mears, 1916, Chapter 61  



大國者下流.
天下之交.
天下之牝.
牝常以靜勝牡.
以靜為下, 故大國以下小國.
則取小國.
小國以下大國, 則取大國.
故或下以取.
或下而取.
大國不過欲兼畜人.
小國不過欲入事人.
夫兩者各得其所欲.
大者宜為下.
-  Chinese characters, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 61 


ta kuo chê hsia liu.
t'ien hsia chih chiao.
t'ien hsia chih p'in.
p'in ch'ang yi ching shêng mu.
yi ching wei hsia, ku ta kuo yi hsia hsiao kuo.
tsê ch'ü hsiao kuo.
hsiao kuo yi hsia ta kuo, tsê ch'ü ta kuo.
ku huo hsia yi ch'ü.
huo hsia erh ch'ü.
ta kuo pu kuo yü chien hsü jên.
hsiao kuo pu kuo yü ju shih jên.
fu liang chê ko tê ch'i so yü.
ta chê yi wei hsia.
-  Wade-Giles Romanization, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 61  



"Here is the formula
for discovery
of the original self
see yourself as a great river
identify wit the fountainhead in the mountains
identify with the watercourse across the land
identify with the emptying into the great sea
this is the receptive
rest peacefully within the shape of
an empty vessel
blanketing your bodymind with stillness
tranquil sitting
balances the naturally expressive
with the naturally receptive
see the great river within you
see the great river beneath you
see the great river above you
see yourself as small within the great river
the great and the small have no meaning
on their own
because they are the same thing
they wish to serve each other
bring them together
as the river connects the mountain spring
to the vast ocean
and the original self
will appear."
-  Translated by John Bright-Fey, 2006, Chapter 61  


"Un gran reino es como un cauce profundo
hacia el que todo fluye.
Es como la hembra del mundo.
La hembra,
domina al macho al mostrarse cautelosa con él.
un gran reino, mostrándose cauteloso,
adquiere un reino pequeño.
Un reino pequeño, mostrándose cauteloso,
adquiere un gran reino.
Por lo tanto, uno adquiere mostrándose cauteloso,
el otro adquiere mostrándose cauteloso.
Un gran reino, sin sobrepasar sus fronteras,
reúne a todos y los nutre.
Un reino pequeño, sin sobrepasar sus fronteras,
sirve a la gente.
Asi, ambos reciben lo que desean.
Para provecho de ambos y el logro de sus deseos,
el más grande debe mostrarse cauteloso."
-  Translation from Wikisource, 2013, Tao Te Ching, Capítulo 61


"What makes a great state is its being like a low-lying, down-flowing stream;
It becomes the centre to which tend all the small states under heaven.
To illustrate from the case of all females:
The female always overcomes the male by her stillness.
Stillness may be considered a sort of abasement.
Thus it is that a great state, by condescending to small states, gains them for itself;
And that small states, by abasing themselves to a great state, win it over to them.
In the one case the abasement leads to gaining adherents, in the other case to procuring favor. 
The great state only wishes to unite men together and nourish them;
A small state only wishes to be received by, and to serve, the other.
Each gets what it desires, but the great state must learn to abase itself."
-  Translated by James Legge, 1891, Chapter 61  

Chapter 61 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 

 

Chen Taijiquan Short Forms

Chen 18 Taijiquan form of Grandmaster Chen Zenglei.

Chen's Taichi for Health and Wellness.  By Grandmaster Chen Zenglei.  White Bench Publications, Toronto, Canada, 2010, 94 pages.  Warmup exercises, and detailed instructions with some photographs for the Chen 18 Short Form.  Jack Yan is a collaborator.  I like this book quite a bit.  $24.00 in 2/2021. VSCL.  

Chen Taijiquan Short 18 Form of Grandmaster Chen Zenglei.  By Michael P. Garofalo.  Bibliography, links, resources, notes, quotes.  

Chen Style Taijiquan Short 18 Form.  Performance by Grandmaster Chen Zhenglei.  UTube, color, 3:38 Minutes, 2007. 

The Chen Style Taijiquan for Life Enhancement.  Written by Chen Zhenglei and translated by Xu Hailing.  Zhongzhou Classic Publishing House, Zhengzhou, China, 2002.  Text in English and Chinese.  ISBN: 7534821819.  149 pages.  "Describes the principles of Chen style for life enhancement, basic training, Taiji Skills for Preserving Energy and the 18 Forms of the Chen Style. Many photos of Chen Zhenglei doing Exercises and forms. Chen Zhenglei is one of the top Chen stylists in China. Paperback, 149 pages, 5 1/2' by 8'. -  Wayfarer Publications   "It covers the content of the health exercise silk reeling video, and is a useful reference,  giving more detail, especially on theory."  This is a very expensive out of print book, not worth $150.00.  I purchased back in 2004 for $25.00.  VSCL   

Essence of Traditional Chen Style 18 Posture Short Form.  Instructional DVD by Shifu Jiang Jian-ye.  Color, 87 Minutes.  Capital District Tai Chi and Kung Fu Association of New York, 1997.  "Cheng Zheng Lei (the 19th generation of the Chen Family) created this form from the old style of Chen first and second routines.  It includes "silk reeling," fa jin (releasing energy), and balance.  This short form is a good introduction for beginners or for those with little Chen style experience."  "A good introductory Chen form that includes silk reeling and fajing movements as well as other characteristics of the Chen first and second routines. Chen Zhenglei, one of today's top Chen stylists, created the form. There is a demonstration of the entire form followed by step-by-step teaching in slow motion with 2-4 views, from the front, back and side. There are front and back demonstrations of each segment (5 to 7 moves each.)  At the end of the teaching there are demonstrations, front and back. There are also excerpts from other Chen forms." - Wayfarer Publications.  CDTKA.  VSCL.  I use a Cboy V-Zon portable DVD player and this DVD works fine because of the way it is organized.     

 

Chen Style Taijiquan
Grandmaster Chen Zhenglei's Short 18 Movements Tai Chi Hand Form, 2001
List of 18 Movements

 

1.     Beginning Posture of Taiji    (Taiji Chu Shi) 

2.     Buddha's Warrior Attendant Pounds the Mortar   (Jin Gang Dao Dui) 

3.     Lazily Tying One's Coat   (Lan Zha Yi)   

4.     Six Sealing and Four Closing   (Liu Feng Si Bi)    

5.     Single Whip   (Dan Bian)  

6.     White Crane Spreads Its Wings   (Bai E Liang Chi) 

7.     Walk Diagonally   (Xie Xing)    

8.     Brush Knee   (Lou Xi) 

9.     Stepping to Both Sides   (Ao Bu)    

10.   Cover Hands and Strike with Fist   (Yan Shou Gong Quan)    

11.   High Pat on the Horse   (Gao Tan Ma)   

12.   Kick with the Left Heel    (Zuo Deng Yi Gen) 

13.   Jade Maiden Working Her Loom   (Yu Nu Chuan Suo)    

14.   Cloud Hands   (Yun Shou)     

15.   Turn Body with Double Lotus Kick    (Zhuan Shen Shuang Bai Lian) 

16.   Cannon Fist Over the Head   (Dan Tou Pao)    

17.   Buddha's Warrior Attendant Pounds the Mortar   (Jin Gang Dao Dui)    

18.   Closing Posture of Taiji   (Taiji Shou Shi)      

 

List of Movements in Grandmaster Chen Zhenglei's Short 18 Form  (1 Page, PDF)  English Only 

Humanism

Humanism: Good Reads

The Little Book of Humanism: Universal Lessons on Finding Purpose, Meaning and Joy. By Andrew Copson and Alice Roberts. Piatkus, 2022, 256 pages. VSCL, Hardbound.

Humanly Possible: Seven Hundred Years of Humanist Freethinking, Inquiry and Hope. Penguin Press, 2023, 454 pages. VSCL, Paperback.

American Humanist Association

Humanists of Greater Portland, Oregon

Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe.  By Greg M. Epstein, Humanist Chaplain at Harvard University.  William Morrow, 2009, 250 pages. FVRL, Hardbound. Outstanding presentation!

I have enjoyed and benefitted from reading three books by the fine writer, humanist, and scholar: Sarah Bakewell. 

How to Live, or A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer.

At the Existentialist Cafe: Freedom, Being and Apricot Cocktails.

This week, I have enjoyed reading her newest book:

Humanly Possible: Seven Hundred Years of Humanist Freethinking, Inquiry and Hope. Penguin Press, 2023, 454 pages. VSCL.

I have a number of webpages with my notes on Humanist philosophy:

How to Live a Good Life: Advice From Wise Persons

Pragmatism

My Views on Religion

Free Thought

"You are what you make of yourselves. Aim high, aim for the stars, and you may yet clear the rooftops. You will need courage, tenacity, motivation, and a good sense of humor on the route. Quality of character, happiness, fulfilment of potential and of human needs can be improved through changed values, through redirection of individual life, by a process of personal change, and personal evolution."
- Jeaneane Fowler

"The secret of happiness is this: let your interests be as wide as possible and let your reactions to the things and persons that interest you be as far as possible friendly rather than hostile." - Bertrand Russell

"Is it so small a thing To have enjoyed the sun, To have lived light in the spring, To have loved to have thought, to have done; To have advanced true friends, and beat down baffling foes.

That we must feign a bliss Of doubtful future date, And while we dream on this Lose all our present state, And relegate to worlds yet distant our repose? - Matthew Arnold

The Great Agnostic: Robert Ingersoll and American Freethought.  By Susan Jacoby.  Yale University Press, 2013, 246 pages. VSCL. 

 

The Longevity Plan

 The Longevity Plan: Seven Life-Transforming Lessons from Ancient China. By John D. Day, M.D., Jane Ann Day, and Matthew LaPlante. Harvard Paperbacks, 2018, 304 pages. VSCL.  

The Seven Lessons are:
1. Eat good food.
2. Master your mind-set.
3. Build your place in a positive community.
4. Be in motion.
5. Find your rhythm.
6. Make the most of your environment.
7. Proceed with purpose. 

Dr. Day, a cardiologist and electrophysiologist from Utah, stayed and studied at the Longevity Center in Bapan, CR China.  He has thoroughly researched the topic and tells us how he applied to his own life.

Yang Style of Tai Chi Chuan, Standard 24 Form

My webpage on the Standard 24 Taijiquan Form has been a very popular webpage on the Cloud Hands Tai Chi Chuan Website since 2001.  In the sidebar of this blog, you will find a quick index to this webpage.  Here is a blog repost from April 2000.  

Standard Simplified Taijiquan 24 Form. Research by Michael P. Garofalo, M.S. This webpage includes a detailed bibliography of books, media, links, online videos, articles, and resources. It provides a list of the 24 movement names in English, Chinese, French, German and Spanish, with citations for sources of the movement names. It provides detailed descriptions of each movement with black and white line illustrations and photographs. It includes relevant quotations, notes, performance times, section breakdowns, basic Tai Chi principles, and strategies for learning the form. This hypertext document was last last updated in December of 2017.  

The Peking (Bejing) Chinese National orthodox standard simplified 24 movement T'ai Chi Ch'uan form, created in 1956, is the most popular form practiced all around the world. This form uses the Yang Style of Taijiquan.  

There is also a famous short Tai Chi Chuan form, created by Professor Cheng Man-ch'ing in the 1940's.  It has 37 movements in the Yang Style of Taijiquan.

My 24 Form webpage provides many good suggestions for a person learning this basic Tai Chi Chuan Form of 24 movements on their own if there is no Tai Chi class in their area.

I started learning Taijiquan in 1986.  I was taught the Standard 24 Movement T'ai Chi Ch'uan Form in the Yang Style of T'ai Chi Ch'uan.  I learned it from Aikido Sensei Frank McGourick in Whittier, California.  

In 1986, were no books or instructional videotapes on this popular form.  In 2019, there are dozens of books and instructional DVDs, videotapes, UTube demonstrations by women and men, streaming content, and scores of webpages on the subject of the 24 Taijiquan Form.  

Sensei McGourick also taught me the standard Long Form of the Yang Style of Tai Chi Chuan.  You hit the floor a lot in Aikido, it is vigorous, and it is very challenging for anyone, and it was too hard for me.  So, being a man in his 40's, and working 50 hours a week as a library administrator of 22 libraries in the busy and growing San Gabriel Valley, I practiced only Taijiquan and Qigong at the Aikido Ai Dojo in Whittier with Dr. Robert Moore and Sensei McGourick.

The most detailed book that I have seen on the subject of the 24 Form is:
The Yang Taiji 24 Step Short Form: A Step by Step Guide for All Levels
By James Drewe.  London, Singing Dragon Press, 2011.  382 pages, black and white photographs, charts, detailed descriptions, training tips. 

I give information on many other fine books by other good authors on the Basic 24 Tai Chi Chuan Form in my webpage.  Find books by Andrew Townsend, Cheng Zhao, Foen Tjoeng Lie, Eric Chaline, Le Deyin, etc.

Many persons have told me that their favorite instructional DVD on the 24 Form is: Tai Chi - The 24 Forms  By Dr. Paul Lam.  I attended Dr. Lam's Tai Chi for Arthritis workshop in Monterey, California; and  later workshops on Sun Tai Chi with other Bay Area teachers.  I am also quite fond of using instructional DVDs by Master Jessie Tsao from San Diego.  


I have played and practiced this form with many different persons and groups over three decades.  The many slight variations are fun to play and observe.  Taijiquan is a very pleasant and satisfying group exercise, dance, marital arts, and choreographed body-mind movements class.  Taijiquan and Qigong provide an excellent fitness class for seniors to help them with aging well.  I have practiced this Basic 24 Form with different groups in the Vancouver and Portland areas, and for many years around Red Bluff, CA.  

At age 74, I can do quite a few repetitions of the form during any day.  I warm up with Qigong and limbering up movements, if needed, before practicing the 24 Form.  I make adjustments necessitated because of my former injuries, falls, surgeries, and decreasing balance skills.  I like to play with the named movement sequences in ways outside of the 24 form choreography, e.g., HsingI type forward drills using Yang postures, changing directions to accommodate indoor practice near furniture, faster movements with intermittent fajing, etc.  I also think about the martial applications of defense or offense, following the Teacher and group members so to achieve a coordinated beauty in the performance style desired, the courtesies and comradeship of the practice team, Taijiquan principles, etc. 

I try my best to try to learn, and relearn, and unlearn.   

"At this period of wushu, the Nanking Central Kuoshu Institute in 1956 tasked the choreography of a Taijiquan routine what would be more suitable for popular dissemination among the masses, in keeping with the government's egalitarian agenda.  The traditional forms were just too long and time consuming to practice, and the traditional methods too arcane and demanding for mass propagation.  The challenge was to reduce the one hundred-odd movements of the traditional Yang Style Taijiquan, prevalent then, to its core, by removing the many repetitive movements as well as the less essential ones.  Thus, the 24-Form Taijiquan set was created.  Instrumental in this simplification effort was Li Tianji (1913-1996) who had been appointed a wushu research fellow at the Institute.  Under official auspices, the 24-Form Taijiquan quickly became the standard form, taught throughout China as part of physical education curriculum in schools and colleges.  It is perhaps the best know Taijiquan form in the world today.  As widespread as it is, the 24-Form is at best an abridged version of the traditional Yang form, a synopsis of the art."
-  C. P. Ong, Taijiquan: Cultivating Inner Strength, 2013, p. 7.  


Lift the head, stand strong and balanced, move gracefully.
Imagine resistance, water boxing, dealing with an opponent, pushing hands.
Be loose and relaxed, avoid over-exertion, use coiling energy.
Keep moving, flowing, shaping yourself in body-mind.
Shoulders down, gentle breathing, dignified bearing.
Stylish, artistic, beautiful, sensuous, dancing, formal.
Yin more than Yang, soft over hard, water over stone, gentle over muscular.
Follow the Teacher, coordinate, create unity, act as one. 

Keeping Your Balance and Avoiding Falls for Older Persons

Keeping Your Balance and Avoiding Falls 
Safety Tips for Around Your House
For Older Persons, Seniors, Elderly:

Avoid clutter. Don't leave things on the floor. Pick up after yourself.
Make sure you have good lighting for both night and day.
Keep furniture and tables to a minimum. Leave room for walking.
Keep areas beside the bed and into a toilet clear and uncluttered.
Use hand bars beside toilet and shower.
Have a strong small ladder for reaching up to higher shelves.
Wear good shoes indoors.
Make sure rugs and runners are secure on the floor.
Watch out if you have steps into your garage or rooms.
Be careful, slow down, be alert!
Use your cane or walker as needed.
Be aware if medicines you take make you feel lightheaded or dizzy.
If sitting for a long time, stand up slowly and carefully.
Move carefully on arthritic or injured limbs.
Use tips and techniques for standing up carefully and safely.
Exercise each day to improve strength, flexibility, and balance.
Make sure all chairs, seats, and tables are in good working order.
Use it, or slowly but surely loose it.
Keep all cabinet drawers or doors pushed and closed properly.
Let others help you or pay for services.
Know you own strengths, limitations, or weaknesses.
If you are obese, it will impair your balance skills. Loose weight!
Do exercises to improve the strength of your legs and hips.
See a physician for serious dizziness.
Practice Tai Chi Chuan to improve your balance skills.
- Michael P. Garofalo, Balance

Aging Well  Information, Bibliography, Quotes, Notes, Links

Dao De Jing, Laozi, Chapter 60

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

Chapter 60

"Ruling a large country is like cooking a small fish.
When the world is ruled by Tao, spirits do not haunt.
It is not that Spirits are no longer numinous, but that their powers do not harm men.
It is not just that their powers do not harm men, the Sage also does not harm men.
If neither side harms the other, Te spreads throughout."
-   Translated by Tam Gibbs, Chapter 60 

Govern a big country as you would fry a smal fish.
Approach the world with the Tao and evi will have no power.
Not that evi has no power, but it will not harm people.
Not that evi is not harmful,
But the Sage is dedicated to not harming people-even evi people.
When no one hurts another,
All will eventually return to the good.
-   Translated by John R. Mabry, Chapter 60  

"Ruling a large kingdom is indeed like cooking small fish.
They who by Tao all that is under heaven
Did not let an evil spirit within them display its powers.
Nay, it was not only that the evil spirit did not display its powers;
Neither was the Sage's good spirit used to the hurt of other men.
Nor was it only that his good spirit was not used to harm other men,
The Sage himself was thus saved from harm.
And so, each being saved from harm,
Their “powers” could converge towards a common end."
-   Translated by Arthur Waley, Chapter 60  

"Nurturing your love
is like tending a small garden.
If you keep pulling up the plants
to see if the roots are growing
you will harvest nothing.

If you focus on your troubles
you give them added power.
Step aside as would a martial arts master.
The troubles still exist,
but you are not unbalanced by their blows.
They lose their power to disturb.
They become food for growth."
-   Translated by William Martin, Chapter 60  

"Ruling a large state is like cooking a small fish.
When you use the Way to govern the world,
Evil spirits will not have godlike power,
It is that their power will not harm men.
But it is not only that their powers will not harm men,
The sage also, will not harm them.
Since these two do not do not harm others,
Therefore their Virtues intermingle and returns to them."
-   Translated by Bram den Hond, Chapter 60  

"To govern a great state, one should act like someone cooking a very small fish (very delicately, otherwise they break up).
When a state is governed according to the Principle, phantoms do not appear there to harm the people, because the Sage who governs does not harm the people.
Not that the spirits have no more powers,
But their powers will not harm men.
Neither will they harm men,
Nor will the Sage harm the people.
The merit of this double tranquility (on the part of the living and the dead) comes back, therefore, to the Sage."
-   Translated by Derek Bryce, Chapter 60 

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu: Introduction, Bibliography, Commentary, Chapter Index 

Chapter 60 of the Dao De Jing by Laozi: Text and Commentaries

Index of English Language Translators of the Tao Te Ching

Ripening Peaches: Taoist Studies and Practices

Chapter and Thematic Index to the Tao Te Ching

California Bees and Blooms

"California is home to over sixteen hundred species of undomesticated bees--most of them native--that populate and pollinate our gardens, fields, and urban green spaces. In this absorbing guidebook, some of the state's preeminent bee and botany experts introduce us to this diverse population. California Bees and Blooms holds a magnifying glass up to the twenty-two most common genera (and six species of cuckoo bees), describing each one's distinctive behaviors, social structures, flight season, preferred flowers, and enemies. Enhancing these descriptions are photographs of bees so finely detailed they capture pollen scattered across gauzy wings and iridescent exoskeletons.
Drawing from years of research at the UC Berkeley Urban Bee Lab, California Bees and Blooms presents an authoritative look at these creatures, emphasizing their vital relationship with flowers. In addition to opening our eyes to the beautiful array of wild bees in our midst, this book provides information on fifty-three bee-friendly plants and how to grow them. Just a few square feet of poppies, sage, and phacelia are enough to sustain a healthy population of wild bees, transforming an urban or suburban garden into a world that hums and buzzes with life."

California Bees and Blooms: A Guide for Gardeners and Naturalists, 2013

The Spirit of Gardening

The Red Bluff Notebooks

Vernal Equinox 2017

This will be our last Spring Season living in beautiful Red Bluff, North Sacramento Valley, California. We will be moving to the City of Vancouver, Washington State, on April 14, 2017.

"Here the white-ray'd anemone is born,
Wood-sorrel, and the varnish'd buttercup;
And primrose in its purfled green swathed up,
Pallid and sweet round every budding thorn,
Gray ash, and beech with rusty leaves outworn.
Here, too the darting linnet hath her nest
In the blue-lustred holly, never shorn,
Whose partner cheers her little brooding breast,
Piping from some near bough. O simple song!
O cistern deep of that harmonious rillet,
And these fair juicy stems that climb and throng
The vernal world, and unexhausted seas
Of flowing life, and soul that asks to fill it,
Each and all of these,--and more, and more than these!"
- William Allingham, In a Spring Grove

"The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month."
- Henry Van Dyke, Fisherman's Luck

"The air and the earth interpenetrated in the warm gusts of spring; the soil was full of sunlight, and the sunlight full of red dust. The air one breathed was saturated with earthy smells, and the grass under foot had a reflection of the blue sky in it."
- Willa Cather

"I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils."
- William Wordsworth

Spring: Quotations, Sayings, Lore, Poetry

The Spirit of Gardening: 3,800 Quotations

Months and Seasons

Tai Chi Chuan at the Beach

 

I travel to a State Park each month on the Oregon or Washington Pacific Coast.  I camp in a Yurt for four days each month. 

I practice Taijiquan, Qigong, Balance Exercises, and Walking at the State Park and beaches.

You are welcome to join me to discuss Taijiquan, Qigong, Taoism, Yoga, Buddhism, poetry, philosophy, and natural history.  It would be enjoyable to sit around a morning or evening fireplace, chat, sip refreshments, and ponder the good life.  

We could practice and share some internal arts movements and practices.

Here is my current Yurt Camping Schedule:

Dosewallips State Park, Hood Canal, Brinnon, Washington
May 6, 7, 8, 9 2024

Grayland Beach State Park, Grayland, Westport, Washington
June 3, 4, 5 ,6  2024

Harris Beach State Park, Brookings, Oregon
October 7, 8, 9, 10  2024

Here is a guide to my practices, outlook, research, and experience.

Send me an email if you are interested in joining me.  

For those not interested in camping, there are some motels and restaurants near the Parks.

There will be no charges, fees, or workshop costs.

Hang Out, Meetup, Share, Socialize, Beachcombing, Practice

Dao De Jing, Laozi, Chapter 59

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
Chapter 59

 
"To govern men and to serve heaven nothing is better than to have a reserve.
The Master indeed has a reserve; it is called brilliant foresight.
Brilliant foresight is called the increasing abundance of Teh.
If you have an ever-increasing abundance of Teh , then your Inner Life is unconquerable.
If you Inner Life in unconquerable, then its limits cannot be known.
If you cannot gauge the limits of your Inner Life, then you shall surely possess the kingdom.
If you possess the Mother of the kingdom,
You shall endure forever.
This is to be deep rooted and to have a firm foundation.
The possessor of Tao shall have enduring life and infinite vision."
-  Translated by Isabella Mears, 1916, Chapter 59  


"To rule men and serve heaven, there is nothing like thrift.
Now,
Only through thrift can one be prepared;
Being prepared means having a heavy store of integrity;
With a heavy store of integrity, he can overcome everything.
Able to overcome everything, no one knows his limits;
If no one knows his limits, he can have the kingdom;
Having the mother of the kingdom, he can long endure.
This is called "sinking roots firm and deep, the Way of long life and lasting vision.""
-  Translated by Victor Mair, Chapter 59  



"To lead men and serve heaven, weigh the worth
Of the one source:
Use the single force
Which doubles the strength of the strong
By enabling man to go right, disabling him to go wrong,
Be so charged with the nature of life that you give your people birth,
That you mother your land, are the fit
And ever-iving root of it:
The seeing root, whose eye is infinite."
-  Translated by Witter Bynner, 1944, Chapter 59



治人事天, 莫若嗇. 
夫唯嗇, 是謂早服.
早服謂之重積德.
重積德, 則無不克.
無不克, 則莫知其極.
莫知其極, 可以有國.
有國之母, 可以長久.
是謂深根固柢, 長生久視之道. 
-  Chinese characters, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 59   


zhi ren shi tian, mo ruo se.
fu wei se, shi wei zao fu.
zao fu wei zhi zhong ji de. 
zhong ji de, ze wu bu ke. 
wu bu ke, ze mo zhi qi ji.
mo zhi qi ji, ke yi you guo.
you guo zhi mu, ke yi chang jiu.
shi wei shen gen gu di, chang sheng jiu shi zhi dao.
-  Hanyu Pinyin Romanization, Daodejing, Chapter 59  





 

 "There is nothing better than moderation
 for teaching people or serving Heaven.
 Those who use moderation
 are already on the path to the Tao.
  Those who follow the Tao early
 will have an abundance of virtue.
 When there is an abundance of virtue,
 there is nothing that can not be done.
 Where there is limitless ability,
 then the kingdom is withing your grasp.
 When you know the Mother of the kingdom,
 then you will be long enduring.
  This is spoken of as the deep root and the firm trunk,
 the Way to a long life and great spiritual vision."
 -  Translated by J. H. McDonald, 1996, Chapter 59 


"Para gobernar al pueblo en armonía con el Universo,
lo mejor es la moderación.
La moderación implica renunciar a intereses personales.
Quien consigue pronto la moderación,
acumula mucha virtud.
Con la virtud acumulada,
vencerá en todo.
Venciendo en todo,
llegará a límites insospechados.
Al no guiarse por límites se puede ser un gran guía.
Un gran guía puede poseer la Madre del reino, y
puede ser perdurable en ello.
El Tao implica adquirir raíces profundas y bases firmes.
Esto conlleva a una larga vida con la visión de la Mutación Perpetua."
-  Translation from Wikisource, 2013, Tao Te Ching, Capítulo 59


"In governing the country and serving Heaven
There is nothing like frugality.
Only by being frugal can you recover quickly.
When you recover quickly you accumulate virtue.
Having accumulated virtue,
There is nothing you can't overcome.
When there is nothing you can't overcome
Who knows the limits of your capabilities?
These limits being unfathomable
You can possess the country.
The Mother who possesses the country can be long-living.
This is called "planting the roots deeply and firmly.""
-  Translated by Charles Muller, Chapter 59 
 

Chapter 59 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 

Yurt Camping in the Coastal Pacific Northwest

 Yurt Campsites on the Pacific Northwest Coast

Pacific Beach State Park, Pacific Beach, Washington
Bay View State Park, Padilla Bay, Mt. Vernon, Washington
Dosewallips State Park, Hood Canal, Brinnon, Washington
Twin Harbors State Park, Westport, Washington
Grayland Beach State Park, Grayland, Washington
Bay Center KOA, Bay Center, Washington
Cape Disappointment State Park, Ilwaco, Washington

Fort Stevens State Park, Astoria, Oregon
Nehalem Bay State Park, Manzanita, Oregon
Cape Lookout State Park, Netarts Bay, Tillamook, Oregon
Beverly Beach State Park, Depot Bay, Oregon
South Beach State Park, Newport, Oregon
William M. Tugman State Park, Eel Lake, Florence, Oregon
Sunset Bay State Park, Charleston/Coos Bay, Oregon
Bullards Beach State Park, Bandon, Oregon
Harris Beach State Park, Brookings, Oregon

Parks in Oregon with Yurts or Cabins

Each month, I reserve a Yurt Campsite on the Pacific Coast six months in advance.
I choose between one of the Yurt locations listed above.  I reserve the Yurt for three nights (Monday to Wednesday.  This gives me four days at the beach.

Here is a collection of webpages that provide detailed information on my Yurt Camping travels from 2022:

Four Days in Grayland  Travel directions, city information, camping tips, yurt camping considerations, destinations, activities, crafts, seasonal info, natural history, good reads, bibliography, observations, poetry, Native Americans ...

Yurt Camping on the Pacific Northwest Coast