Pulling Onions Again

Freedom opens a few doors and closes many more. 
My mind is a sea I cannot see into; I merely skim along its surface.
I think, therefore I am a living person; dead bodies don't display thinking, just stinking.
Sometimes the present alters our interpretation of the past; most often the past surrounds and infects the present. 
Wherever I go, something new becomes me. 
Be careful not to stand up for that which will cause your downfall.    
God may be very smart, but he is a poor communicator.
What ought to be cannot be derived from what is the case, but a reasonable person ought not to ignore what is the case.  
I can admire a few great persons or heroes, but seldom have much desire to try and imitate them. 
Disrespect and contempt for the body is a common trump card for spiritualists; but, our game of life does not use trump cards. 
Nonsense can sometimes improve our sense and senses. 
Prohibitions focus our aim on better choices and actions. 
Don't sell the present short on the promises of "when." 
Most tire from hatefulness; cheerfulness is abiding.
Stubborn facts are loosened up with novelty.
A sure path to the perversion of truth is to make it a belief. 
The act, the deed, the doing are the primary considerations. 
My body gave birth to my mind, is in my mind, and my body-mind thrives in our world of lived experiences. 
Objectivity is a product of our agreements, and an important feature of my imagination. 
R. Buckminster-Fuller once suggested that "God is a verb, not a noun."  Which verb?  Pretending?  Storytelling?  Fantasizing?  Believing? 
My consciousness is a vegetable soup, and the water in the soup is what I do. 
Yes, I am just this and that; but, I am also not just that and this. 
Hearing the cat purr when we pet them gently matters far more to us than whether the cat's fur is black, white, or orange. 
If you think you are damned if you do or damned if you don't, your not thinking creatively enough. 
The ten thousand things are more enchanting than the Silent One. 
To lift the mind, move the body.  

Pulling Onions: The Quips and Sayings of an Old Gardener.  Over 840 quotes.  By Mike Garofalo

Bookstore Dilemma

Bookstore Dilemma

Barnes and Noble
bookstore browsed—
        the smell of new books
    and coffee brewed,
tasty poetry books to peruse.

Poetry books
        on fifteen shelves:
which one? which one?
My wallet wants to force a choice:
    just one! just one!

Louise Gluck or Santoka Taneda
    which one? which one?
Hungry to meet and hear from them;
        [ignoring my wallet's advice]
    I bought Both!
Books are alive and talk repeatedly.

25 Steps and Beyond: Collected Works

US Highway 101 and Hwy 1

US Highway 99 and Interstate 5

Cuttings: Haiku, Short Verses, Epigrams

The Gushen Grove Sonnets

Stepping Over Epiphanies

Bundled Up: Tanka Poems

Above the Fog

Daodejing: Indexes, Concordance, Anthology

A Fork in the Crypto Road

Before and After in the Garden

[A repost from the Cloud Hands Blog on June 25th, 2014.]

Our "Sunny Vegetable Garden" changes dramatically from spring to summer.

The two photos below were taken by looking south.  The first photo was taken in early April, and the second in late June.  The "winter garden," where Karen was standing in April, has been cleared and all the onions and garlic harvested. 

 

The two photos below were taken by looking north. The first photo was taken in early April, and the second in late June. Whatever we don't water is dried and brown by June

June Gardening:  Quotes, Poems, Sayings, Lore

Gardening and the Seasons:  Quotes, Poems, Sayings, Lore

Our dog, Bruno, always likes to join us for gardening activities.  He is skilled at digging for gophers and snakes.

This photo was taken in 2005.

Winter Gardening Projects

A Repost from 2014:

Karen and I have been very busy this week with home improvement projects and winter garden chores. 
We drained the west pond and removed cattails, berry vines, and other "weeds."  We removed dead cypress trees along the edge of the pond.  This was very tiring work for us.
We are planting two new rows of trees in our orchard.  We are planting potted trees (gifts from Cathy Goodin), and bare root trees.  I am laying down drip lines for all the new trees in the orchard.  We will also prune and fertilize all existing trees.  We will paint all the trunks white, and spray. 

Weeding: Quotes, Sayings, Facts

Working in the Garden: Quotes, Poems, Sayings

In Any Balm or Beauty of the Earth

Vineyards near San Luis Obisbo, California

Yosemite National Park

"What is divinity if it can come
Only in silent shadows and in dreams?
Shall she not find in comforts of the sun,
In pungent fruit and bright, green wings, or else
In any balm or beauty of the earth,
Things to be cherished like the thought of heaven?
Divinity must live within herself:
Passions of rain, or moods in falling snow;
Grievings in loneliness, or unsubdued
Elations when the forest blooms; gusty
Emotions on wet roads on autumn nights;
All pleasures and all pains, remembering
The bough of summer and the winter branch,
These are the measures destined for her soul."   
-  Wallace Stevens, Sunday Morning, 1915


"The point in life is to know what's enough - why envy those otherwold immortals?  With the happiness held in one inch-square heart you can fill the whole space between heaven and earth."
-   Gensei (1623-1668), Poem Without a Category
    The Enlightened Heart, Edited by Stephen Mitchell, p. 86 


"The secret of beginning a life of deep awareness and sensitivity lies in our willingness to pay attention. Our growth as conscious, awake human beings is marked not so much by grand gestures and visible renunciations as by extending loving attention to the minutest particulars of our lives. Every relationship, every thought, every gesture is blessed with meaning through the wholehearted attention we bring to it. In the complexities of our minds and lives we easily forget the power of attention, yet without attention we live only on the surface of existence. It is just simple attention that allows us truly to listen to the song of a bird, to see deeply the glory of an autumn leaf, to touch the heart of another and be touched. We need to be fully present in order to love a single thing wholeheartedly. We need to be fully awake in this moment if we are to receive and respond to the learning inherent in it."
-  Christina Feldman and Jack Kornfield, Stories of the Spirit, Stories of the Heart


I will return to blogging on August 10, 2013.    

Dark and Dreary Day

Sipping coffee and thinking.
I look forward to walking with my dog this morning.
John will be working on our new back door and back entrance siding.  
Mick and April arrive here this afternoon. 
Outside: 45F, overcast, drizzling, sprinking, raining, a darker world.

We have been very busy lately with traveling and having visitors.  We were in Portland for a week before Thanksgiving Day.

November was a very busy month for Karen and I.  

We have repaired the entire south side of our house and the entire back porch.  Both have been painted.

Busy with part-time employment 3 days 8 hours per week, and hope to retire from this job in 12/18.  I still teach yoga/qigong 3 hours each week.

Pulled up dying summer vegetables, raked, spread manure.  Enjoyed working outdoors when it was sprinkling.  When it really started to rain I retreated to a shed or indoors.

"From December to March, there are for many of us three gardens -
the garden outdoors,
the garden of pots and bowls in the house,
and the garden of the mind's eye."
-   Katherine S. White

Last View of Their Swing
11/26/2015, Portland
By Mike Garofalo

 















Cold nights and wind have killed all the summer vegetables. 
2015 gone for them and us.

Quotations and Poems Representing the Month of December

Family Visit

This post covers the time period from Friday June 26th until Monday, July 13th, 2015, in Red Bluff, California.

Our two children, Alicia and Mick, their spouses, and our two grandchildren have visited Karen and I in Red Bluff during the period of time described above.

Alicia, Katelyn, and Makenna visited us from 6/27 to 7/1.  Then, they headed off as tourists and visiting with old friends in Southern California, including some at Palm Springs, Orange County, and some at Ventura and Santa Clara along the coast. 

Mick and April visited us from 7/3-7/9.  April and Mick attended numerous wedding events in Corning on the 4th of July weekend. 

Alicia, Sean, Katelyn, and Makenna visited us from 7/10 to 7/13.  Katelyn turns 9 in July, and we celebrated her birthday twice.   

We have enjoyed ourselves and kept ourselves very busy.  Yesterday, 6/12, for example we all went up to Brandy Creek Beach on the south side of Whiskeytown Lake.  It was an overcast day with temperatures in the 80's.  Lovely green forested mountains on all sides. 

I've watched some of the Tour de France nearly every day on DVD delay. 

Resting my shoulder.  No back porch work.  Sleeping soundly. 

Summer Vacation

I work part-time for the Corning Union Elementary School District during the school year.  I work 117 days each calendar year.  My last day of work for the 2014-2015 school year was yesterday.  I am now on "summer vacation" until August 16th.  Karen retired in June of 2014.

I walk 3.6 miles in the morning each day starting at 5:10 am; with laps interspersed with Taijiquan forms practice.  I teach yoga 3 or 4 evenings each week from 5:20 - 6:40 pm.  I lift weights at the gym 5 days each week from 4 to 5 pm.

We both work on home improvement projects, water, and garden each day.  During the hottest time of each day, we read, research and write indoors.  We use a simple evaporation cooler and a couple of fans to keep us comfortable during the hottest time of each summer day. 

This summer I will complete Phase 4 (indexing and concordance) for my Tao Te Ching project.  As usual, I will post to the Cloud Hands Blog each day. 

We listen to a lot of New Age music in MP3 digital format as well as use Pandora.  I also listen to a good deal of string quartet music.

I have four books of intellectual history that I plan to read, as well as the Essays of Michel de Montaigne.

This summer I will learn and use Photoshop CS5, AskSam 6, and the Atlantis word processor. 

I plan to watch parts of the Tour de France starting on July 4th. I enjoy the scenic and historical commentary, as well, of course, as the tactics and athleticism of the bike riders.  I seldom have ridden a bike in my lifetime, although I rode small motorcycles for 12 years for transportation in the city. 

Karen and I will complete the repair, painting, and remodeling of our back porch.  We will finish removing three dead trees and four overgrown trees in the wrong locations.  We will rent a dumpster and clean up materials stored in our far south field. We will tend our summer vegetable garden and enjoy the harvests. 

Our children and their families will be visiting us in late June and early July.  Karen and I will join my two brothers and their wives in Bodega Bay, California, and in Peyton, Colorado, for the Blaize Reunion.  Karen and I will also go up to Portland once. 

So, assuming good health, we will have a busy, productive, and pleasurable summer vacation.

If our son is fortunate enough to get a kidney transplant (he has waited 4 years), then Karen will go to Portland for six weeks to help him during recovery, and we will help with finances.  That event would make it a wonderful and perfect summer.

Getting On in Years and Getting on with Life

My birthday was in January.  My mother, June, gave birth to me at the White Memorial Hospital in Los Angeles.  I remember little of my very early years, and what memories I have are pleasant ones.

My earliest memory is playing with carpenter's tools as a toddler.  My dad built the house that we lived in during my childhood and teenage years. 

In 2015, I will be 69 years of age.

I plan and expect it to be a productive year in 2015 in terms of fitness activities, writing, reading, mind-body arts practices, work, gardening, home improvements, some travel in the Northwest, and fun activities with family and friends.

We are anxiously awaiting news from the Oregon Health and Science University Hospital in Portland, Oregon, that they have a kidney available for transplanting in my son.  He has been on dialysis for three years.  He began his struggles with kidney disease when he was 19 years of age.  Karen will stay in Portland to help during his recovery from the surgery.

As of now, Karen and I are in reasonably good health.  We cope and manage our chronic health problems.  Local and area (Redding and Chico) medical care is good. 

Our income from work, investments, and Social Security are sufficient for a very comfortable lifestyle in rural Red Bluff.  I still am employed for 24 hours a week for nine months of each year, and am thinking of retiring when I am 72 years of age. 

Most of the time, I have many more projects and activities than I can accomplish.  Therefore, some objectives are not accomplished or others only half-completed.  I am never bored and feel pretty good about my accomplishments. 

Aging

How to Live the Good Life

                                                             1946
                                             My mother and father and I

                                                             1947

                                                  Karen and I in 1968

                                                            1974

                                                             1981

                                                             1984

                                                          
                                                           1989
                                             Alicia, Me, Karen and Michael D.

                                                              2000

                                                             2015

Fighting Off the Flu

I was very sick with the flu for seven days.  I missed three days of work, and did not go to the gym to workout or teach yoga.  Feeling stronger today, and back to normal activities and chores around the house.   Hope to recover fully this week. 

We were in Oregon from 9/19-9/24.  A delightful trip and family visit. 

Family Fun

Our two granddaughters, Katelyn and Makenna, have been visiting at our home since July 27th.  Their mother, our daughter, Alicia, has been visiting since August 1st.  Their father, Sean, joined us all on August 8th.  All four return to Portland, Oregon, on Monday, August 11th.

We had many local trips and special activities with all of them.  For example, on Friday 8/8, we toured the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield and the State Railroad Museum in Sacramento.  Yesterday, we all we to Whiskeytown Lake near Redding.  Alicia and the girls attended three of my yoga classes.  Karen led crafts, garden play, coloring, swimming in a blow up pool in our yard, and other fun activities.

We had all camped together at South Beach State Park in Newport, Oregon, from 7/23 until 7/27.

Karen and I had a great time visiting with everyone.  

Cloud Hands Blog Usage

The Cloud Hands Blog has served up over 400,000 blog posts from October of 2005 through July of 2014.  It now has a 97 subscribers.

Thank you very much to all those that read the posts to this blog.  

This year, I added a Translate button at the top of the right sidebar so that non-English readers can read the post in the language of their choice, albeit within the limitations of automatic machine translations.

The nice aspect of any blog is the fact that all posts are thoroughly indexed by topics shown in the lower right side bar.  The blog has a search box at the top left hand corner of the blog that provides full access to all past posts.

Many of my blog posts refer to material found in my many webpages.  Links in each post point to relevant material in my webpages on a particular subject. 

The right sidebar of this blog highlights my many webpages on a variety of subjects of interest to me.  Also, there are links in the right sidebar to other blogs and webpages by others that are worth exploring and reading.

My main webpage efforts during the last two years has been weekly work on the 81 Chapters of the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu.  In June of 2014, I just completed adding two Spanish language translations for each of the 81 chapters of the Daodejing, and indexing by Spanish language terms for all the Chapters.  Each Friday, I submit a post on the Daodejing to the Cloud Hands Blog. 

I do get considerable positive feedback about my webpages and blog via email. 

Hopefully, posts to this blog will benefit my readers in some positive way, lead to discovering other mind-body fitness options they might explore, and providing a little insight on topics of mutual interest.

I receive very few comments to the blog posts, and I always respond. I get email with questions and comments each day. 

I recently upgraded my computer to a new HP Pavillion desktop computer running Windows 8.1.  I moved all my software and files over to the new computer.  I am now using the Microsoft Office Suite 2007.  In the past, I used the Microsoft Office Suite running on Windows XP on a Gateway desktop computer.  I purchased a number of good low priced used books from Amazon about the Microsoft Office Suite 2007.  This summer, I plan to get very familiar with Word 2007 and Dreamweaver CS5. 

Our summertime afternoon daytime temperatures in Red Bluff, California, frequently climb to above 100F, and nighttime temperatures drop to 70F.  Consequently, we get all outdoor chores and watering done in the early morning hours.  I also take a long walk at daybreak.  In the afternoon, at 4pm, I go to the gym to lift weights and then teach yoga.  I tend to work indoors on computer projects, webpage publishing, writing, reading, and blog posts during the hottest time of the day.  I am off my part-time job as a Elementary School District Librarian and Webmaster until August 20, 2014.

Green Way Research


The picture below was taken in Olympia National Park in Washington during the summer of 2012.  My granddaughter, Makenna, and I enjoyed our visit to this beautiful park.  This summer, in 2014, we will camp at South Beach State Park in Newport, Oregon.

Blanche Karen Garofalo Retires

Karen Garofalo, my wife, retired today, Thursday, on June 12, 2014.  

Her last employment was with the Tehama County Department of Education (TCDE) in Red Bluff, California, from 1998-2014.  She worked 30 hours per week, 5 days a week, as a Special Education Instructional Assistant helping physically and mentally handicapped students.  

She worked with preschool students at the special education center at the Barrendos Middle School campus in Red Bluff.  She helped severely handicapped primary school students at the TCDE Special Education Center at the Gerber School in the Gerber/Proberta area.  Then, she worked with adults, ages 18-21, at the Tehama Adult Learning Center (TALC) in Red Bluff.  She enjoyed working with and supporting the following teachers:  Gary Ulloa, Holly Allison, Judy Howry, Mary Craig, Ann Lieker, and the administrator Julie Howard.  

Karen has also worked for the Pacific Bell Telephone Company as a telephone operator; at the Popps Ferry Elementary School in Biloxi, Mississippi, as a instructional assistant; and, for an optometrist as a receptionist.  She, of course, has "worked" for many years, and will continue to do so, as a homemaker, mother, and wife.  She was very active for many years as the President of the Hacienda Heights Friends of the Library, and was given the annual Citizen's Award in 1993 by the Los Angeles County Public Library System.  

Karen has raised two fine children, Alicia June and Michael Delmer.  Our two children, their spouses, and two grandchildren live in Portland, Oregon.  

I hope that Karen has a long, enjoyable, productive and energizing retirement.  

Family Visitors for Graduation and Retirement

My son, Michael, and his wife, April, stayed at our home in Red Bluff from May 26 until June 3rd.  They attended the graduation ceremony of their niece, Chloe, in Red Bluff.  April enjoyed a family gathering of her side of the family.  We had up to 10 people stay at our home. 

We enjoyed hanging around the house and yard, gardening, plant gathering, watching our two dogs playing, conversations, and fine meals.  We went fishing one day up to Battle Creek. 

Mick helped me with cutting down some dead trees.

A pleasant visit for all.

We also celebrated Karen's upcoming retirement.  She retires, at age 66, from her job as a Special Education Instructional Assistant at the Tehama County Department of Education.  She has worked 5 days a week, 30 hours per week, for over 15 years.  She worked at special education centers at West Street in Corning, Barrendos in Red Bluff, Gerber School, and TALC in Red Bluff.  She has worked with handicapped children from preshool to the primary grades, and adults.  She will retire on  June 12th, 2014.  A job well done!! 

Garden Planted with Summer Vegetables

Karen and I worked in our "Sunny Garden" yesterday.  We planted some summer vegetables: tomatoes, peppers, corn, and squash.  

Our last frost day is April 15th in our area.  Today, the high temperature was 81F, sunny, with no clouds.   

Gardening provides the opportunity for constructive action, exercise, amateur botany studies, attention to particulars, a 'restoration of the five senses,' artistic creativity, and quiet contemplation.  

The photos were taken around 6 pm in the afternoon.  

Looking to the south.  Karen is standing in what is left of our Winter garden: onions, Swiss chard, cabbage, and garlic. In the foreground, we need to get some work done on weeding and preparing the compost area, enclosing with concrete blocks

Looking to the North.  I am standing in the portion of the garden used for summer vegetables. We weeded and tilled the soil in this garden last weekend.  We had fertilized with cow manure last December. 

Staking up the first tomato:

Karen watering the plants in this garden.  We will put in drip lines to each plant in early May ... which makes watering much easier and more effective than watering with a hose.  I will put down straw around each plant for mulch and water conservation.  

A view, looking south, of part of our South Orchard.  We will be mowing with our John Deere tractor and Echo weed eater this coming Sunday.  

The Spirit of Gardening:  Over 3,800 Quotes, Sayings, Poems, and Facts.  Compiled by Mike Garofalo. 

Portland Trip

We enjoyed our trip up to Portland, Oregon.  We went from 11/23/2013 until 11/29/2013.  We visited with our daughter and son and their families.  We celebrated Thanksgiving together. 

 

Tai Chi Class in Red Bluff, California

T'ai Chi Ch'uan (Taijiquan, Tai Chi) Class
Yang and Chen Styles of Taijiquan

Location: Tehama Family Fitness Center
2498 South Main Street, Red Bluff, California, 530-528-8656

Time of the Tai Chi Class:
Tuesday Evening 6:35 - 7:35 pm
Thursday Evening 6:35 - 7:35 pm

Instructor:  Mike Garofalo

Full Tai Chi Class Outline and Information

Focus On:

Yang Style Standard Simplified 24 Movements Form

Yang Style Traditional 108 Movements Form

Chen Style 18 Movements Form of Grandmaster Chen Zhenglei


The class textbook for Beginning Tai Chi will be:

The Harvard Medical School Guide to Tai Chi: 12 Weeks to a Healthy Body, Strong Heart, and Sharp Mind.  By Peter M. Wayne, Ph.D., and Mark L. Fuerst.  Shambhala Press, 2013.  240 pages.  A Harvard Health Publication.  This is our "textbook" for beginning Tai Chi students.

Daily Activities

Busy today with work projects, gardening and Karen's heart tests in Redding. 

Most of my reading, research and writing has been in three areas:

1.  Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu, Taoism, and mysticism. 

2.  The Five Senses with a special emphasis upon touch and smell. 

3.  Druidry and NeoPaganism

Chi Kung (Qigong) Classes in Red Bluff, California

Chi Kung (Qigong, Yoga) Classes at the Valley Spirit Center
Outdoors in the Cooler Morning Hours
Instructor: Michael P. Garofalo, M.S.

Location: 23005 Kilkenny Lane, Red Bluff, California
Phone:  530-200-3546

Monday    6:00 am - 7:30 am
Tuesday   6:00 am - 7:30 am
Friday      6:00 am - 7:30 am
Saturday  6:00 am - 7:30 am
Sunday    6:00 am - 7:30 am

Qigong (Chi Kung, Dao Yin, Yangshengong): Eight Section Brocade, Temple, Dragon, Animal Frolics, Five Elements

Tai Chi Chuan (Taijiquan): Yang, Chen, and Sun Styles

Cane (Staff)

Walking

Qigong Class Webpage

Nearby communities:  Red Bluff, Anderson, Cottonwood, Corning, Los Molinos,
Gerber, Tehama, Richfield, Rancho Tehama, Chico, Redding.