Yurt Camping in Lincoln City, Oregon, from 9/22-9/25.
Drove from Lincoln City on 101 north to Tillamook, then East on Oregon 2 into Banks, then 30 into Portland.
Devil's Lake State Recreation Area
Siletz Bay National Wildlife Refuge
Chinook Winds Casino and Hotel
Prehistoric: Rocks and Fossils Store
My Photographs
My Photographs
Photographs from the Internet
Yurt Camping in Lincoln City, Oregon, from 9/22-9/25.
Devil's Lake State Recreation Area
Siletz Bay National Wildlife Refuge
Chinook Winds Casino and Hotel
Prehistoric: Rocks and Fossils Store
My Photographs
Photographs from the Internet
Today, I pack my yurt camping gear into my Ford Escape SUV.
Remember: 16 hours of night time, 8 hours of daylight.
Tomorrow, I will drive up Oregon 30 from
Vancouver, Portland, Scappoose,
St. Helens, Ranier-Longview Bridge,
Clatskanie, Cathlamet Ferry, to Astoria.
Sightseeing and lunch in Astoria.
Over the 4 mile Astoria-Megler Bridge on Highway 101.
Arrive at Cape Disappointment State Park, near Ilwaco.
Check into my yurt at 4 pm, unload, relax, take a nap.
Remember: 16 hours of night time, 8 hours of daylight.
Reading, research, and study,
Monday evening to Thursday morning.
What paperback books will I bring?
Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson
I Sing the Salmon Home: Poems from Washington State
The Ode Less Travelled: Unlocking the Poet Within
message from the vessel in a dream
Cascadia Field Guide: Art, Ecology, Poetry
Each typical early January day,
at Cape Disappointment State Park,
Ilwaco, WA: Cool, Windy, Rain.
However, the current weather reports
predict dry cool weather until Friday
this week. Horray!
Remember: 16 hours of night time, 8 hours of daylight.
Indoors: Reading, Writing, Harmonica, String, Qigong
Bring:
Writing tablet, pencils
Books
Cellphone, Tablet, MP3
Photography gear
Kites
Fireplace Tools
Firewood, starters
Fishing gear bag, license
Electronic, lights bag
Medicine and cleaning bag
Food supplies
Eating cooking utensils box
Sleeping bag 6lb
Blankets, throws, towels
Clothing bag
Shoes bag
Wet and cold weather gear
Trash bags
Toiletries
Eyeglasses
Backpack and hiking gear
Water bottles, thermos, canteen
Wallet and credit cards
Gas in Ford, cleaned, oiled, ready to drive
Maps as needed
Cane, walking stick
String Figures Kit, Caroline Jayne
Harmonicas (C Low, A Low) + Book
Reading Sheet Music for Harmonica
Discoveries #2 (July 8, 2024)
Harmonica Studies by Michael P. Garofalo
I have been diligently working on learning to read standard music notation, sheet music, when
playing the harmonica. I had been using for many years the harmonica tablature notation showing what hole to blow or draw into. Sheet music notation tells me what note to play and the duration and sequence of the notes played. Most diatonic harmonica music books have lessons using a C Major harmonica, the sheet music for each song, and under each note the harmonica tablature. I focus now on the sheet music and ignore the harmonica tablature. I am using the book 'Easy Piano Sheet Music for Kids', by Avgusta Udartseva, while learning, which does not include harmonica tablature.
For me, what are the benefits of reading standard musical notation (sheet music):
1. A better sense of the flow and timing of a composition.
2. There is far more sheet music without harmonica tablature that is readily available.
3. Following traditional musical learning using sheet music is very valuable, and essential for real progress in music playing.
4. Learning to connect names of notes (CDEFGABC) with positions on the sheet music, and connecting these with diatonic harmonica holes for blow or draw notes (20 notes on a 10 hole diatonic harmonica).
5. Learning to read sheet music more efficiently, effectively, knowledgeably, and beneficial for playing properly.
6. I am learning more musical theory each day.
7. The visual spacing of the notes on the sheet music is more useful to precise playing and improving one's anticipation and timing.
8. Improves my learning how to play better.
9. I enjoy learning challenges, tests, new methods and techniques.
10. It is intellectually and emotionally satisfying to make progress in playing music.
11. The challenge of new ways of looking and seeing; new ways of communicating with symbols.
12. Harmonica tablature can be useful, but must be left behind for real progress to occur.
This has been a significant and transformative learning experience for me! Why did I wait so long to learn how to read and play from sheet music? Why did I not take classes from a music teacher? Why did I not take community college or private classes in musical theory and education? Nevertheless, this is all just muddy water gone past under the bridge for a 78 year old man playing the harmonica on his own. I must focus on learning NOW, and ignore my regrets and failings. PRACTICE NOW and enjoy myself.
Harmonica Studies by Michael P. Garofalo
Lately, I have been reading for many hours each day as I recover and heal my knee from my fall last Sunday (10 Sep 2023). Here are some of the better books I have read:
The Twelve Monotasks: Do One Thing at a Time, Do Everything Better. By Thatcher Wine. Little Brown Spark, 2021, index, notes, 263 pages. VSCL, Hardbound + FVRLibrary.
If you want good ideas, tips, techniques, exercises, and methods for enabling yourself to focus, concentrate, and fully engage yourself in specific tasks in your daily life then read: "The Twelve Monotasks: Do One Thing at a Time, Do Everything Better" by Thatcher Wine, 2021. He gives specific recommendations for "monotasking" in the areas of reading, walking, listening, sleeping, eating, travel, learning, teaching, playing, seeing, creating, and thinking. A fine book in positive psychology!
Secular Faith: How Culture Has Trumped Religion in American Politics. By Mark A. Smith. University of Chicago Press, 2015, index, notes, 287 pages. FVRLibrary.
A sociological and historical study about how the secular society in America has moved away from traditional religious anti-progressive and oppressive values regarding slavery, divorce, homosexuality, abortion, and women's rights. A very good analysis and careful research into how the Christian religion supported slavery, rejected divorce, persecuted homosexuals, rejected birth control, and treated women unfairly and denied women rights; and how secular compromises changed our views and laws regarding these issues and practices in American society over the past three centuries. A respect for individual liberties, rights, and freedom are more popular in American secular culture in 2023. For example, despite the Moral Majority, Christian Coalition, and fundamentalist "family values" agendas in the ongoing Culture Wars; all States now have "no-fault" divorce options, and these religious groups these days place a low priority on trying to restrict or make divorce illegal or persecute divorcees, as they did in the past.
The Existentialist's Survival Guide; How to Live Authentically in an Inauthentic Age. By Gordon Marino. Harper One, 2018, bibliography, notes, 260 pages. FVRLibrary.
A philosopher and librarian and boxer digs deeply into real life issues such as anxiety, depression, despair, death, authenticity, faith, morality, and love. Strong on Kierkegaard and similar authors. Hope, courage, and honesty but little emphasis of facile happiness. Existentialism has a gloomy demeanor, and life can be very gloomy.
Being and Nothingness: An Essay in Phenomenological Ontology. By Jean-Paul Sartre. Translated by Sarah Richmond. Washington Square Press, 1943, 2018, bibliography, index, 853 pages. VSCL, Paperback.
This complicated, obtuse, lengthy, difficult, and noted book will take me four months to read and study. I have read a number of essays and fictional books by Sartre, and studied him in college in 1964, but have never challenged myself to study his magnum opus until 2023. I'm not sure if I am up to understanding his complex views in my old age, but I will try.
I was cheerfully and energetically walking with my dog, Bruno, on Sunday morning (9/10). The weather was cool and overcast, almost foggy. We both had spirit and liveliness in our quick walking pace. The evergreen pines were impressive borders to our morning jaunt, and many deciduous shrubs and trees added a few autumn colors to delight our views.
Suddenly, a large black cat jumped out from some shrubs and scrambled directly in front of our path. Bruno, predictably, lunged in pursuit of his longstanding DNA enemy. I gathered my strength and balance and controlled his aggressiveness via the leash. We walked another ten feet. Then Bruno suddenly turned in front of me and ran into my legs. I quickly lost my balance and fell forward on to the asphalt street.
I injured my left knee, right hand, right shoulder, and overall sense of well-being. Blood dripped from my hand and bruised knee. I slowly assessed the damage, and gradually returned to standing, supported by my cane. We slowly and carefully walked back home.
Karen helped me bandage and treat my wounds. I applied ice to my bruised knee. I rested and hoped for the best.
I had a scheduled a yurt camping trip to Pacific Beach State Park on the Southwestern Washington Pacific coast, from 9/11-9/14. I was quite disappointed that I could not go camping because of my leg injuries from the Sunday fall. I lost the $150.00 I had spent on the Yurt reservations.
Now, for three days, I have been sitting, resting, doing some gentle massage and rehab movements for my bruised knee, icing, and reading.
Multiple injuries to my right hand, and arthritis, have resulted in permanent impairment, pain, and weakness in my dominant right hand.
Injuries to my legs have resulted in fewer problems and more rapid recovery.
I've been reading many books on 20th Century history. I particularly enjoyed "The Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails" by Sarah Bakewell. The extreme challenges and choices of Europeans living from 1910-1960 are very disturbing to read about. Bakewell tells the story via the lives of many French and German intellectuals of that era. Eric Hobsbawn's "The Age of Extremes: A History of the World, 1914-1991" chronicles the influences of socialism, fascism, communism, capitalism, and the devastating Wars, and the Cold War, during that time period.
I had anticipated adding reports, photographs, and poems about my yurt camping trip to Pacific Beach after I returned on Thursday (9/14).
In the remaining three months ahead in 2023, I have scheduled Yurt camping beach trips to Nehalem Bay, Grayland, and Cape Lookout. Each month, I yurt camp four days and three nights at a State Park along the ocean shores. Hopefully, I will be physically able to enjoy these local adventures and retreats to the Pacific Coast in 2023 and 2024.
Memories of Pacific Coast Places: Highway 101 and 1
Reports from Yurt Camping Retreats at the Ocean from 2021
The task and daily practice of studying classic philosophical, spiritual, or religious texts is called "Svadhyaya" by B.K.S. Iyengar and others from the Hindu, Pantanjali, Raja and Hatha Yoga texts, sources, and traditions.
It is the education of the self via the wisdom literature.
"To make life healthy, happy and peaceful, it is essential to study regularly divine literature in a pure place. The study of the ancient books of the world will enable the sadhaka to concentrate upon and solve the difficult problems of life when they arise. It will put an end to ignorance and bring knowledge. Ignorance has no beginning, but it has an end. There is a beginning but no end to knowledge. By svadhyaya the sadhaka understands the nature of his soul and gains communion with the divine. The sacred books of the world are for all to read. They are not meant for the members of one particular faith alone. As bees savor the nectar in various flowers, so the sadhaka absorbs things in other faiths which will enable him to appreciate his own faith better."
- B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on Yoga, 1966, p. 39
I drove from Vancouver, through Portland, out west by Beaverton and Hillsboro, and out into the farmlands and vineyards near Banks, Oregon. From Banks, on Oregon Road 26, I drove the 50 miles through the coastal mountains and the Tillamook State Forest. The road has many small homes along its course west up along Gales Creek up to the 1,500 foot summit, and then down the rugged Wilson River Canyon to the Tillamook Valley. There are an astounding number white trunked deciduous trees (alders, poplars) along this impressive Wilson River Canyon.
It is 100 miles from my home in Vancouver to Cape Lookout State Park.
I drove 6 miles west out on Bayocean Road to where it dead ends because of rock slides. The road goes along the southwest side of Tillamook Bay. I did not drive out on the gravel Bayocean Dike Road all the way to the south jetty of Tillamook Bay. It was very foggy at this time. Dramatic!! Nobody out and about today ... deserted foggy Bay waters rising and falling twice a day.
The State Park campground is 6 miles from the village of Netarts, and 11 miles from downtown Tillamook.
In the last two decades, I have camped in a Yurt at Cape Lookout State Park twice before, and once in a tent. There are 210 campsites and 13 Yurts here. Check in at 4:00 pm, and checkout at 10 am. Most of the campground was closed, only Loop C was open. All the Yurts were used, and about 15 trailers/RVs were in the campground.
There are many hiking trails in the Park in the Sitka Spruce forest. Also, nice roads for bicycling and walking (especially since so few people were here). There are many miles of sandy beach and surf to walk along because the Park is on the long sand spit that creates the west side of shallow Netarts Bay. All the steep hills to the east of the Park are heavily forested.
There is considerable logging in the mountains surrounding the Tillamook Valley. As is true for all the Oregon and Washington coastal mountain ranges.
Since there will be lots of darkness and probably some rain, a winter coastal solo camper needs books to read, DVDs or CDs to use on a laptop, ebooks. There was decent smart cellphone T-Mobile access to the Internet.
I brought my Kindle ebook reader, my HP laptop computer with software such as my laptop Kindle ebook reader, Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop, and the Microsoft 365 Suite. Brought my Canon SX740 camera and cellphone.
In the next two weeks I will be reading the two following books.
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic For Dummies. By Rob Sylvan. VSCL, my book.Cape Lookout State Park Images Many options for walking and hiking in this part of the rugged Oregon coastline.
Four Days in Grayland By Michael P. Garofalo. Camping and travel adventures in the Pacific Northwest.
Yurt Camping in the Coastal Northwest By Michael P. Garofalo
Cape Meares State Scenic Viewpoint
Tillamook Coast Visitors Guide
Munson Creek Falls State Natural Site
Pacific City Population 1,000
Northwest Coastal Oregon Travel Guide: Astoria to Cape Lookout. By Mike Garofalo.
Netarts, Oregon Population 744 Images Unincorporated community. On Oregon 131, Trees to the Sea Highway. Off of US 101.
"Netarts is a small community situated at the mouth of Netarts
Bay, just south of Oceanside. Found amid lush coastal rainforest, Netarts, in
the language of the local Tillamook tribe, means “near the water.” On the
shore of Netarts Bay, the town is separated from the Pacific Ocean by a long,
club-shaped stretch of forested sand called Netarts Spit. This was once the
earliest settlement site of the Tillamook Indians. Inside the bay, at low tide,
many search for different varieties of clam, and a nearby marina offers boat and
crab pot rentals. Nearby Cape Lookout State Park, on the opposite shore of
Netarts Bay, has tent camping, yurts, cabins, and a rewarding hike to a great,
panoramic vista for whale watching."
- Netarts Bay
Travel
General History of the Netarts Bay Area, By William Hawkins, 1994 PDF
Where to Clam and Crab in Netarts Bay By Oregon Fish and Game Department Includes Map
Naveen's Bayside Market and Deli in Netarts
The Schooner Restaurant and Lounge in Netarts Very good meals!
Netarts Bay, at maximum high tide, is 9 feet deep on the average.
Beach Sand Composition Geology
Three Arch Rocks National Wildlife Refuge
Zeolites of Tillamook Seashore
Northwest Coast: A Natural History. By Stewart T. Schultz. Portland, Timber Press, 1990, index, bibliography, 389 pages. VSCL.
"Netarts Bay is an estuarine bay on
the northern Oregon
Coast of the U.S.
state of Oregon,
located about 5 miles (8.0 km) southwest of Tillamook.
The unincorporated community of Netarts is
located on the north end of the bay and Netarts Bay Shellfish Preserve, managed
by Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, is located on the south side of the
bay.[1] The
sand spit on the west side of Netarts bay is part of Cape
Lookout State Park. The bay is approximately 5 by 1.5 miles (8.0 by
2.4 km) and totals 2,325 acres (9.41 km2) in area, making it Oregon's seventh
largest bay.[2] Of
that, 812 acres (3.29 km2) are permanently submerged—the balance of 1,513 acres
(6.12 km2) is intertidal land.[2] It
experiences a maximum tidal range of 9 feet (3 m). The bay is part of a
watershed of 13 square miles (34 km2)[2] that
is fed by at least 16 small creeks. From north to south, there is Fall Creek,
Hodgdon Creek, O'Hara Creek, Rice Creek, two unnamed creeks, Yager Creek, three
unnamed creeks, Whiskey Creek, an unnamed creek, Austin Creek, two unnamed
creeks, and Jackson Creek."
- Netarts Bay
"Oregon is blessed with the vision of former Governor Oswald West who legislated that all of Oregon’s coastline be accessible to everyone. This was remarkable foresight given the state’s sparse population in 1911. More than 150 years later we appreciate his commitment to beauty beholden to all."
"Another common question about our sandy beach is, “Why
does sand squeak when you walk on it?” The answer is that the music is caused by
friction from the sand grains rubbing against each other as we apply weight
through our footsteps as we scoot our feet through the sand. However, there are
certain conditions to be met. The type of sand that squeaks is usually a
silicate, a feldspar, or a carbonate, the grains must be rounded (no sharp
corners or edges), they should be around 300 micrometers in diameter, and they
squeak best when they are dry (moisture on the grains acts as a lubricant,
decreasing the friction)."
- Jim Young,
Oceanside, Oregon
