Kind Words

"So many gods
So many creeds
This wind, that wind.
While just the art
Of being kind
Is all the sad world needs."
- Ella Wheeler Wilcox

"Wise sayings often fall
on barren ground;
but a kind word
is never thrown away."
- Sir Arthur Helps

Lifestyle Advice for Wise Persons

The Art of Happiness, 10th Anniversary Edition: A Handbook for Living by the Dali Lama 

Kindness (Metta)

The Dalai Lama's Rules for Living

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
3. Follow the three Rs: Respect for self, Respect for others, Responsibility for all your actions.
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
7. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
8. Spend some time alone every day.
9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
11. Live a good and honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.
12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.
14. Share your knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality.
15. Be gentle with the earth.
16. Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.
17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

Gimme Shelter

Gimme Shelter

Music and lyrics by the Rolling Stones, 1969

"Oh, a storm is threat'ning
My very life today
If I don't get some shelter
Oh yeah, I'm gonna fade away
War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
Ooh, see the fire is sweepin'
Our very street today
Burns like a red coal carpet
Mad bull lost its way
War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
The floods is threat'ning
My very life today
Gimme, gimme shelter
Or I'm gonna fade away
War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
I tell you love, sister, it's just a kiss away
It's just a kiss away
It's just a kiss away
It's just a kiss away
It's just a kiss away
Kiss away, kiss away."

Purchase a song or album to support the Playing for Change Project

The Ever Present Dao

"Tao is everywhere.
It cannot be kept from the sincere.

Tao originated in China and was an expression of that culture. It was intimately tied to a poetically agrarian view of the world, and it forged mysticism and pragmatism together. But now, most of us, even those in China, do not understand ancient words. Our farming is mechanized. Our poetry is written on computers. Does this make Tao invalid? No, it does not. Tao is still here, and if we are to follow Tao, we must rely not on old standards but on direct experience.  Contemporary minds need contemporary concepts to interest them.

If following Tao is as great as the masters claim, then it ought to be applicable to any situation and any race. Neither time, nor place, nor culture should be a barrier to the sincere seeker. Tao surrounds us; we need only guidance and understanding in order to connect with it.

Tao is not something esoteric. It is right here. The masters allude to this all the time. For them, anything -- from reading scriptures to attending the theater, from meditating to sweeping dung from the ground -- is Tao. They understand the ubiquitous nature of Tao and act accordingly. If masters still know Tao in this world of jet planes and electronic communication, then we can also absorb the essential message of Tao. Those who succeed might never talk of it, and yet everything they do will be spontaneously in tandem with Tao."
-  Deng Ming-Dao, 365 Tao: Daily Meditations, #32 February 1: Ubiquity

Make Our Hearts Fertile Fields for Your Bounty - A Prayer

In Honor of Frigga  

"Shining Lady of Asgard,
All-seeing, all-knowing,
at Your command worlds are born,
at Your nod and tender smile, life burst into being.
Valiant Goddess, ruthless foe, cunning Queen,
Illuminate your wyrd.
Strengthen our hamyngja.
Make us fruitful in all things, like the barley and flax
   that is your gift.
Nourish our souls, God-Mother,
Pour forth from Your cornucopia of abundance
and in return we will give You our devotion,
   our praise, our industry.
Holy Mother of all life, foremost amongst the Asynjur,
   bestow upon us Your wisdom.
Make our hearts fertile fields for Your bounty, and
   on Your spindle of shimmering starlight,
Weave for us a joyous fate."
   
Galina Krasskova.  Exploring the Northern Tradition: A Guide to the Gods, Lore, Rites, and Celebrations from the Norse, German, and Anglo-Saxon Traditions  New Page Books, 2005.  Quote from page 44.  

Raven Caldera and Galina Krasskova.  Northern Tradition for the Solitary Practitioner: A Book of Prayer, Devotional Practice, and the Nine Worlds of Spirit.  New Page Books, 2009.  

Robert Ellison.  The Solitary Druid: A Practitioner's Guide.  Citadel, 2005. 

Gardening and Spirituality

One Old Druid's Final Journey
Spring Celebrations Preparation
Last night, we enjoyed a full moon.  The moon will be at its brightest on Monday night.   

Tai Chi Chuan Classes in Red Bluff, California

T'ai Chi Ch'uan (Taijiquan) and Chi Kung (Qigong) Classes will resume on Monday, February 27th, 2012. 

These classes will be offered at the Tehama Family Fitness Center in Red Bluff, California.  

The Tai Chi instructor will be Mike Garofalo.  Mike has taught Yoga, Tai Chi, and Chi Kung at the Tehama Family Fitness Center since 2003.  

The Tai Chi class will be held two days each week.  The Monday evening class is from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm.  The Saturday morning class is from 9:30 am until  11 am. 
 
Everyone will learn to perform the Eight Section Brocade Chi Kung and the Dragon Chi Kung sets.  We will have detailed instruction and practice in the Standard Simplified Tai Chi 24 Movement Short Form in the Yang Style of Taijiquan.  Class handout for the Eight Section Brocade Chi Kung.  

Intermediate students and advanced students have a variety of options for training and learning in this class.  Mike also offers some free outdoor training options at the Valley Spirit Center in Red Bluff, and he also offers private lessons.     

More Class Information

Mike Garofalo began learning Tai Chi Chuan and Chi Kung in 1986.  His Cloud Hands Taijiquan website and his Valley Spirit Qigong website, both started in 2001, serve over 850,000 webpages each year to people all around the world.  His Cloud Hands Blog provides daily information on many related subjects.  

Relaxation in Taijiquan Practice

"Relaxation of the whole body means the conscious relaxation of all the joints, and this organically links up all parts of the body in a better way.  This does not mean softness.  It requires a lot of practice in order to understand this point thoroughly.  Relaxation also means the "stretching" of the limbs, which gives you a feeling of heaviness.  (This feeling of heaviness or stiffness is a concrete reflection of strength.)  This feeling is neither a feeling of softness nor stiffness, but somewhere in between.  It should not be confined to a specific part, but involves the whole body.  It is like molten iron under high temperature.  So relaxation "dissolves" stiff strength in very much the same way.  Stiff strength, also called "clumsy strength," undergoes a qualitative change after thousands of times of "dissolution" exercises.  Just like iron which can be turned into steel, so "clumsy strength" can be turned into force, and relaxation is a means of gradually converting it into force.  Our ancestors put it well: "Conscious relaxation will unconsciously produce force."  There is truth in this statement."
-  Yang Zhenduo, "Yang Style Taijiquan", p 16

"To see the Self (Atman) one must become calm, controlled, quiet, patiently enduring, and contented."
- Brhadaranyaka Upanisad, 800 BCE  

"Song is translated into English as relax. But this meaning is generally regarded as incomplete.  It also can mean loosening, releasing tension, relaxed alertness. To my mind the state of Song is directly related to correct posture and structural alignment as described in the Ten Essential Points by Yang Chen-fu.  By realigning the body to attain and maintain correct natural alignment of the skeleton several things result. Internal organs are able to locate in the body as they were designed to enabling them the opportunity to function at their optimum. Secondly, correct natural alignment enables the skeleton to assume its job of supporting the body as it was designed to do. Consequently the ligaments, tendons, tissue and muscles of the body can also assume the particular job they were designed for, namely to support the skeleton and not expend additional energy or create unnecessary
tensions.  If we can achieve and maintain this natural state, then we can allow the body to function naturally and optimally. In this state, we have a chance of achieving the state of Song from the inside out rather than superficially from the outside in as we all tend to do."
-   Ian Etcell, How to Improve Your Tai Chi, 2003

Relaxed, Loose, Open, Yielding , Free, Responsive (Song, Sung, Fang Song) 

Rooting, Centered, Balanced, Grounded

Dao De Jing, Laozi, Chapter 76

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
Chapter 76

"Man at his birth is supple and weak: at his death, firm and strong.
So it is with all things.
Trees and plants, in their early growth, are soft and brittle; at their death, dry and withered.
Thus it is that firmness and strength are the concomitants of death; softness and weakness, the concomitants of life.
Hence he who relies on the strength of his forces does not conquer; and a tree which is strong will fill the outstretched arms, (and thereby invites the feller.)
Therefore the place of what is firm and strong is below, and that of what is soft and weak is above."
-   Translated by Andre Gauthier, Chapter 76  

"While a person is alive, he is soft and yeilding;
When dead, in the end they become stretched out stiff and rigid.
All living things including trees and plants are flexible and fragile while alive;
When dead, they become dry, withered and rotten.
Therefore it is said that those who are stiff and rigid are companions of death; while those who are soft, yeilding, flexible and fragile are companions of life.
A rigid weapon thus will be defeated;
A rigid tree thus will break.
What is rigidly large dwells below;
What is soft, yielding, flexible and fragile dwells above."
-   Translated by Nina Correa, 2005, Chapter 76 

 

"the ancient child asks
how do you get out of the bodymind's way and let it live
by allowing your soul to take the lead of your life
the ancient child asks
how do you let the soul take the lead of your life
be as gentle and tender as a newborn
soft, yielding, supple, and full of lifeforce
avoid stiffness, rigidity, and naked force
emulate the living things in the world delicately
and at a distance
avoid hardening your bodymind and spirit
avoid those unyielding things that stink of decay
embody those things that are tender and pliant
which grant life and freedom
avoid mustering your talents and collecting your strengths
in a forceful or headstrong manner
remember
an unyielding tree will snap under a strong wind
or fall easily under a dull axe
pattern yourself after a great tree
will deep roots and strong branches
and you will exalt your bodymind and spirit."
-  Translated by John Bright-Fey, Chapter 76

"When people are born they are gentle and soft.
At death they are hard and stiff.
When plants are alive they are soft and delicate.
When they die, they wither and dry up.
Therefore the hard and stiff are followers of death.
The gentle and soft are the followers of life.
Thus, if you are aggressive and stiff, you won't win.
When a tree is hard enough, it is cut. Therefore
The hard and big are lesser,
The gentle and soft are greater."
-   Translated by Charles Muller, Chapter 76 

"People are soft and weak in life,
hard and strong in death.
The ten thousand plants and trees are soft and frail in life,
withered and brittle in death.
Things hard and strong follow death's ways and things soft and weak follow life's:
so it is that strong armies never overcome and strong trees always suffer the axe.
Things great and strong dwell below.
Things soft and weak dwell above."
-   Translated by David Hinton, Chapter 76 

"A man living is yielding and receptive.
Dying, he is rigid and inflexible.
All Things, the grass and trees:
Living, they are yielding and fragile;
Dying, they are dry and withered.
Thus those who are firm and inflexible
Are in harmony with dying.
Those who are yielding and receptive
Are in harmony with living.
Therefore an inflexible strategy will not triumph;
An inflexible tree will be attacked.
The position of the highly inflexible will descend;
The position of the yielding and receptive will ascend."
-  Translated by R. L. Wing, 1986, Chapter 76 

"Human beings are soft and supple when alive, stiff and straight when dead.
The myriad creatures, the grasses and trees are soft and fragile when alive, dry and withered when dead.
Therefore, it is said:
The rigid person is a disciple of death;
The soft, supple, and delicate are lovers of life.
An army that is inflexible will not conquer;
A tree that is inflexible will snap.
The unyielding and mighty shall be brought low;
The soft, supple, and delicate will be set above."
-   Translated by Victor H. Mair, Chapter 76 

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

Chapter 76 of the Dao De Jing by Laozi

Index of English Language Translators of the Tao Te Ching

Ripening Peaches: Taoist Studies and Practice 

 

Chapter and Thematic Index to the Tao Te Ching

Rooting into the Earth

"And all the times I was picking up potatoes, I did have conversations with them.  Too, I did have thinks of all their growing days there in the ground, and all the things they did hear.  Earth-voices are glad voices, and earth-songs come up from the ground through the plants; and in their flowering, and in the days before these days are come, they do tell the earth-songs to the wind ... I have thinks these potatoes growing here did have knowings of star-songs." 
-  Opel Whiteley, 8 years of age, The Singing Creek where the Willows Grow - The Mystical Nature Diary of Opal Whiteley, Penguin, 1994. 

"Heaven is right beneath our feet."
-  Henry David Thoreau

Earth - Quotes, Poems, Sayings

"Without a true connection to Earth energy your Taiji will be weak and your Taijiquan with be nothing more than a distant goal. You’ll be like a young sapling that can be uprooted by even a child.  Watch some videos and concentrate on the player’s connection to the ground.  Do they look like they could be pushed over at any time?  Can you see the Earth energy rising up the body, spiraling through the waist coming out through the hands?  Do they start and end each form completely rooted?  Most players have spent all their time learning the movements of the forms and have neglected the connection to earth.  They are without root and it is a foundational imperative."
-  Rod Morin, Rooting and Connection to the Three Energies

 
  "One ability that Tai Chi uses to develop serious power through internal ability is called root. The skill of rooting involves the ability to use mind intent to drop your center of gravity down below the ground.  Although rooting involves mind intent, it is more than just visualization. If you practice rooting, you will be able to actually feel the weight of your body dropping down below the surface of the ground. When you practice drills with partners they should be able to feel it too. This way, if you use root in a combat situation, an attacker will be able to feel your root as well so that you will feel to them like a concrete slab stuck deep into the ground. In other words, you will be very hard to push over.  When you first learn root, you begin by practicing standing in one place. However, you can learn to keep your root in the ground while you are walking or in a combat situation. It is possible to learn to drop your root deeper and deeper even as you are fighting.  Over time, you can develop your root so that it is deeper in the ground and contains more and more of your compressed body weight. Some Tai Chi masters can have a root that is 50 feet or more below the ground. To an attacker, being hit by someone with a really deep and strong root can feel like being hit by a 300 pound gorilla."
 -   Richard Clear, Root: A Secret of Combat Tai Chi's Internal Power  

Rooting in Taijiquan and Qigong  This webpage includes an introduction, selected quotations, a bibliography with links, and training suggestions.  I will be updating this webpage in February, 2012.  

Muscle and Tendon Transforming Exercise Routines

The Yi Jin Jing Qigong is a popular qigong exercise set from China. "Yi Jin Jing Qigong" means "Muscle and Tendon Transforming Exercises."

In most cases, this qigong regimen consists of 12 movement sequences. There are some versions of the Yi Jin Jing with many more movements (22, 49, 108, 216). Some of the longer versions of the Yi Jin Jing include movements from the Eight Section Brocade Routine, the Animal Frolics Routines, the Louhan (Eighteen Buddha Hands Qigong) Routine, or the Bone Marrow and Brain Washing Routine.

Most people practice a 12 movement version of the Yi Jin Jing that was described in a book published by Pan Weiru in 1858 called "Essential Techniques for Guarding Life." Also, Wang Zuyuan published a book in the 1880's titled "Illustrated Exposition of Internal Techniques" that described the same qigong routine as did Pan Weiru.

Names of the Yi Jin Jing Qigong Movements

Opening Form

1. Wei Tuo Presenting the Pestle 1

2. Wei Tuo Presenting the Pestle 2

3. Wei Tuo Presenting the Pestle 3

4. Plucking Stars on Each Side

5. Pulling Nine Cows by Their Tails

6. Showing Talons and Spreading Wings

7. Nine Ghosts Drawing Sabers

8. Sinking the Three Bodily Zones
Three Plates Falling on the Floor

9. Black Dragon Displaying Its Claws

10. Tiger Springing On Its Prey

11. Bowing Down in Salutation

12. Swinging the Tail

Closing Form

Some claim that the Yi Jin Jing was created by the famous Zen Patriarch Bodhidharma (Da Mo) around 520 CE, and refined over centuries by Shaolin monks, while others argue for an even more ancient Daoist lineage.

There are numerous instructional DVDs available now for the 12 movement verion of the Yi Jin Jing. I like the instructional book and DVD by the Chinese Health Qigong Association:

Yi Jin Jing: Chinese Health Qigong. Compiled by the Chinese Health Qigong Association. Beijing, China, Foreign Languages Press, 2007. 95 pages, charts, includes an instructional DVD. ISBN: 9787119047782. VSCL. "Qigong is an aspect of traditional Chinese medicine that involves coordinating breathing patterns with physical postures to maintain health and well-being. Yi Jin Jing/ Tendon-Muscle Strengthening Exercises is an accessible, fully-illustrated guide to a particular qigong exercise that focuses on turning and flexing the spine. Based on the twelve traditional routines of Yi Jin Jing, the exercises covered in the book feature soft, extended, even movements that invigorate the limbs and internal organs. In particular, practice of the Yi Jin Jing exercises improves flexibility, balance and muscular strength, and has a beneficial effect on the respiratory system. Each routine is described step-by-step and is illustrated with photographs and key points. The authors also point out common mistakes and offer advice on how to correct these. Complemented by an appendix of acupuncture points and accompanied by a DVD, this book will be of interest to Qigong and Tai Chi practitioners at all levels, students of martial arts and anyone interested in Chinese culture." - Singing Dragon.

For a good book on the theory of the Yi Jin Jing, read Qigong: The Secret of Youth: Da Mo's Muscle/Tendon Changing and Marrow Brain Washing Classics. By Yang, Jwing-Ming, Ph.D., 1946-. An Advanced Qigong Regimen for the Serious Practitioner. Boston, Massachusetts, YMAA Publication Center, 2000. Second Edition 2000, First Edition 1989. Index, appendices, charts, 312 pages. ISBN: 1886969841. VSCL.

Men of the Earth

“We men of Earth have here the stuff
Of Paradise - we have enough!
We need no other stones to build
The Temple of the Unfulfilled -
No other ivory for the doors -
No other marble for the floors -
No other cedar for the beam
And dome of man’s immortal dream.

Here on the paths of every-day -
Here on the common human way
Is all the stuff the gods would take
To build a Heaven, to mold and make
New Edens. Ours is the stuff sublime
To build Eternity in time!”
- Edwin Markham, Earth is Enough

Green Way Wisdom - Religion

Walking, dancing, taijiquan, qigong, gardening or yoga
at daybreak are all a taste of paradise for me.
"We men of Earth have here the stuff of paradise..."
Peace to everyone.
Blessed Be!

One Old Druid's Final Journey

Walking Again

My foot surgeon told me last Thursday that I could resume my walking exercise program.  I have also been wearing regular shoes for two weeks instead of the special orthopedic boot to offload pressure on my right foot.  

I have not been able to much aerobic exercise for six months because of the thigh wound problems resulting from three surgeries on a large tumor in my thigh, and from a diabetic ulcer in my right middle toe.   

I will start with 2 laps (1.2 miles) on the cul de sac in front of my home and gradually work my way up to 6 laps (3.6 miles) during the next few weeks.  I will try my best to walk once or twice a day.  I normally walk 3.5 miles four or five days every week.  

I enjoy a very safe and lovely walking path on a country lane.  Pictured below is me walking laps on a cool and foggy morning.   


Walking regularly is one of my great pleasures in life. 

"If you want to know if your brain is flabby, feel your legs."
-   Bruce Barton  

"If you are seeking creative ideas, go out walking.  Angels whisper to a man when he goes for a walk."
-   Raymond Inmon

"As I went walking
That ribbon of highway
I saw above me
The endless skyway
I saw below me
The lonesome valley
This land was made for you and me."
-   Woody Guthrie, This Land is Your Land

"Thoughts come clearly while one walks."
-   Thomas Mann

"Happy is the man who has acquired the love of walking for its own sake!"
-   W.J. Holland

"Solvitur ambulando," St. Jerome was fond of saying.  To solve a problem, walk around."
-   Gregory McNamee  

The Ways of Walking: Quotations, Facts, Methods, Spirituality, Meditative

• Ways of Walking
• Walking Meditation
• Walking Quotations
• Walking Bibliography
• Circle Walking: Bagua
• Walking the Labyrinth
• Garden Walking
• Walking Qigong
• Walking Staff
• Valley Spirit Walking

 

No More Trouble

War - No More Trouble
Music and lyrics by Bob Marley, 1976

"Until the philosophy which holds one race
Superior and another inferior
Is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned
Everywhere is war, me say war

That until there are no longer first class
And second class citizens of any nation
Until the colour of a man's skin
Is of no more significance than the colour of his eyes
Me say war

That until the basic human rights are equally
Guaranteed to all, without regard to race
Dis a war

That until that day
The dream of lasting peace, world citizenship
Rule of international morality
Will remain in but a fleeting illusion
To be persued, but never attained
Now everywhere is war, war

And until the ignoble and unhappy regimes
that hold our brothers in Angola, in Mozambique,
South Africa sub-human bondage
Have been toppled, utterly destroyed
Well, everywhere is war, me say war

War in the east, war in the west
War up north, war down south
War, war, rumours of war

And until that day, the African continent
Will not know peace, we Africans will fight
We find it necessary and we know we shall win
As we are confident in the victory

Of good over evil, good over evil, good over evil
Good over evil, good over evil, good over evil."

Iraq: The End of a Mistake  

Support the Playing for Change Project by Purchasing an Album

Friendship

"The happiest moments my heart knows are those in which it is pouring forth its affections to a few esteemed characters."
-  Thomas Jefferson

"The most I can do for my friend is simply to be his friend.  I have no wealth to bestow on him.  If he knows that I am happy in loving him, he will want no other reward.  Is not friendship divine in this?"
-  Henry David Thoreau 

"A man should choose a friend who is better than himself.  There are plenty of acquaintances in the world; but very few real friends."
-  Chinese Proverb

"Life is partly what we make it, and partly what is made by the friends whom we choose."
-  Tehyi Hsieh 

"A true friend unbosoms freely, advises justly, assists readily, adventures boldly, takes all patiently, defends courageously, and continues a friend unchangeably."
-  William Penn  

"We can live without religion and meditation, but we cannot survive without human affection."
-  The 14th Dali Lama, Tenzin Gyatso

"What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult for each other?"
-  George Eliot

Friendship: Quotes, Sayings, Poems, Songs

"There are different levels of friendships, some are half-empty and others are rising and over half-full.
Some information about yourself is best never shared, not even with friends. 
A few friends are just a pain the ass, and not friends for long.
Graveyards and landscape gardens, coffins and flowers - fitting friends.
Many friendships are sustained by a mutual hatred of another person or group.
A good friendship is like a two way paved street, a bad friendship like a one way dirt road coming to a dead end."  
-  By Mike Garofalo, Pulling Onions 

 

Chen Style Tai Chi Chuan - Old Frame First Form

Chen Style Taijiquan, Old Frame First Form, Lao Jia Yi Lu.  

A webpage by Michael P. Garofalo.  145 Kb.  2007-2012. 

A detailed bibliography of books, media, and articles.  Extensive selection of Internet links.  List of movement names in English, Chinese characters, Chinese Pinyin, French, German, and Spanish; and citations for sources of the movement names.  Detailed list of DVDs and videos available online.  Extensive notes on the author's learning the Old Frame, First Routine, Lao Jia Yi Lu; and on learning Chen Style Taijiquan.  Record of performance time of this form by many masters.  Breakdown by sections of the form, with separate lists for each section.  General information, history, facts, information, pointers, and quotations.  

Section I, Movements 1-6, Chen Taijiquan, Old Frame, First Form 

Snow on the Yolla Bolly Mountains

A cold weather storm came in from the northwest last week.  That storm dropped 5 inches of rain on Red Bluff.  Snow levels dropped to 2,500 feet.  We had no snow in the valley, but below freezing temperatures in the valley injured a few of our more sensitive plants. 

This is the view from our back yard, looking towards the Yolla Bolly mountain range to the west. 

On the west side of the North Sacramento Valley, about 40 miles west of our home, is the coastal mountain range called the Yolla Bolly Mountains.  These mountains are mostly from 6,000 to 8,000 feet in our area. Mt. Linn, South Yolla Bolly Mountain, is 8,094 feet.  For more information: Yolla Bolly Middle Eel Wilderness

January Photographs by Karen and Mike Garofalo

January: Quotations, Poems, Sayings, Lore

"From Heaven I fall, though from earth I begin.
No lady alive can show such a skin.
I'm bright as an angel, and light as a feather,
But heavy and dark, when you squeeze me together.
Though candor and truth in my aspect I bear,
Yet many poor creatures I help to insnare.
Though so much of Heaven appears in my make,
The foulest impressions I easily take.
My parent and I produce one another,
The mother the daughter, the daughter the mother."
-  James Parton, A Riddle - On Snow