Gardening Information for Vancouver, Washington

Repost from 2000:

It is now raining heavily in Vancouver, Washington.  The Cascades will get some heavy snow at the higher altitudes.  Temperatures in the 40's.  

The annual average rainfall (AAR) in the different places I have lived is of note for me:

1946-1967  Unincorporated East Los Angeles, Bandini Neighborhood/Varrio,
                  City of Commerce, Southern California   AAR = 15”
1948-1958  Karen grew up in Alexandria, Central Indiana   AAR = 42"
1969-1973  Biloxi, Mississippi   AAR = 65”
1973-1983  Bell Gardens, Southern California   AAR =  15”
1983-1998  Hacienda Heights, California   AAR = 15”
1998-2017  Red Bluff, Northern California   AAR = 25”
2017–         Vancouver, Southwestern Washington, Northwest USA  AAR = 42”


Vancouver, Washington, is rated as USDA Agricultural Zone 8B.

Zone 8b means that the average minimum winter temperature is 15 to 20 °F. 

Gardening Information for Vancouver, Washington:  

Understanding your gardening environment is essential to success.  What are the climate conditions in your area during a year's cycle?  What is the soil like?
What kinds of plants are grown successfully in your area?  What nurseries are nearby.  

Vancouver, Washington, USA, Zip Code: 98662

Hardiness Zone:  Zone 8a: 10F to 15F

Average First Frost:  October 21 - 31

Average Last Frost:  April 1 - 10

Koppen-Geiger Climate Zone:  Csb - Warm-Summer Mediterranean Climate

Ecoregion:  3a - Portland Vancouver Basin

Palmer Drought Index:  Extremely Moist

Average Annual Rainfall:  43.55 inches

Heat Zone Days:  Rare Over 86F 

Elevation:  171 feet above the Pacific Ocean

Soil:  

Nurseries:  Yard and Garden, Shorty's, Tsugawa in Woodland, Lowe's and Home Depot.  

General Geography: 

The Pacific Ocean and Astoria, Oregon, is 100 miles to the West from Vancouver.
The south side of the City of Vancouver is the Columbia River, and across the river is Portland, Oregon.  The Cascade range and Columbia Gorge is to the East.  Looking north: 165 miles to Seattle, 494 miles to Vancouver, Canada; 105 miles to Olympia, and 45 miles to Mt. St. Helens.  

January Average: 33F low, 46F high, 6" Rain

February Average: 35F low, 50F high, 4.99" Rain

March Average: 37F low, 56F high, 4.38" Rain

April Average:  40F low, 60F high, 3.28" Rain

May Average:  45F low, 67F high, 2.67" Rain

June Average:  50F low, 72F high, 1.88" Rain

July Average:  53F low, 79F high, .8" Rain

August Average:  57F low, 82F high, .5" Rain

September Average:  49F low, 75F high, 1.91" Rain

October Average:  42F low, 64F high, 3.41" Rain

November Average:  38F low, 52F high, 6.49" Rain

December Average:  34F low, 46F high, 6.68" Rain

Yearly Averages:  42F low, 62F high, 43.55" Rain


The Spirit of Gardening

Gardening in Red Bluff, California

Colors in the Garden: Vancouver, WA

Gardening in Vancouver, Washington

Mt. Adams Emerges in the West

The Fireplace Records Case #58

Mt. Adams Emerges in the West

"Master Yellow-Bitterroot Mountain asked me,

'What is the meaning of Old Pahto emerging in the West?'

I lifted my cane and placed it in my mouth, saying nothing.

Later, zany Zen liar that I am, I wrote:

"No minds, no dharmas. No-mind, much Dharma."

Zen Koans: The Fireplace Records
Koans by Mike Garofalo

Zen Koan Collections Studies

Subject Index to 1,975 Zen Buddhist Koans

Reading Wittgenstein 1975-

Buddhism

Taoism

Meetings with Master Chang San-Feng

Philosophy

Quintain Poetry

Mount Adams, Old Pahto, Washington

Pulling Onions

 

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

Shifu Miao Zhang Takes A Walk

The Fireplace Records Case #57

Shifu Miao Zhang Takes a Walk

Toju Zenchu brandished his staff before Daoist 

Shifu Miao Zhang and challenged him "Miao 

Zhang, speak and you get whacked with Nanten's

staff. Do not speak and you still get whacked with

Nanten's staff." Shifu Zhang stood up quickly, 

lifted his cane strongly in defense, and quietly

said, "Yunmen's shit stick stinks and Nanten's 

staff is cracked! I am leaving now to take my

evening walk. Goodbye."

Zen Koans: The Fireplace Records
Koans by Mike Garofalo

Zen Koan Collections Studies

Subject Index to 1,975 Zen Buddhist Koans

Reading Wittgenstein 1975-

Buddhism

Taoism

Philosophy

Quintain Poetry

Pulling Onions

 

The Green Man and Pan

"There lies within
A hidden glen
An altar made of stone.
Creeping vine
And moss entwine
To hide this ancient throne.
Tangled thorn
Grows thick to scorn
Those who seek to enter.
For though they strive
No man alive
Shall ever reach its center.
Known as Pan,
To some Green Man,
This glen is his sacred place.
He dons his hood
Of wildwood
To hide his leafy face.
The roving clans
That raped the lands,
Cut down his beloved trees.
And so, alas
As time did pass
The Green God fell to his knees. ..."
- Kristina Peters Moone, The Green Man

"The force that through the green fuse drives the flower
Drives my green age; that blasts the roots of trees
Is my destroyer.
And I am dumb to tell the crooked rose
My youth is bent by the same wintry fever.
The force that drives the water through the rocks
Drives my red blood; that dries the mouthing streams
Turns mine to wax.
And I am dumb to mouth unto my veins
How at the mountain spring the same mouth sucks."
-   Dylan Thomas, The Force That Through the Green Fuse Drives the Flower

The Green Man

Lore, Legends, Tales, Celebrations, Springtime Symbols, Folk Stories and Plays
From the hypertext research notebooks of Mike Garofalo

This cabbage, these carrots, these potatoes,
these onions ... will soon become me.
Such a tasty fact!
- Mike Garofalo, Cuttings

Portrait of the Emperor Rudolph II as Autumn.By Arcimboldo, 1591, Held at the Museo Civico, Brescia. 

     A Repost from May 2018.  

Cutting Through the Wind

The Fireplace Records Case #56

Cutting Through the Wind

Mayoku walked around his old Daoist friend,
Shifu Miao Zhang, three times and then thumped
his staff on the ground. Miao Zhang stood up,
walked around Mayoku once, tapped his cane three
times on the wall, and said "The power of the wind
can topple trees and is gone by morning. My cane
can cut through the wind."

Shifu Miao Zhang

Zen Koans: The Fireplace Records
Koans by Mike Garofalo

Zen Koan Collections Studies

Subject Index to 1,975 Zen Buddhist Koans

Reading Wittgenstein 1975-

Buddhism

Taoism

Philosophy

Quintain Poetry

Pulling Onions

 

Yoga Postures - A Likely History

Repost for 2014:

Recently, I have been reading many books about yoga, exercise and spirituality.  The following book by Mark Singleton has influenced my understanding of the evolution of the practice of hatha yoga since 1880:

Yoga Body: The Origins of Modern Posture Practice  By Mark Singleton.  New York, Oxford University Press, 2012.  Index, bibliography, notes, 262 pages.  ISBN: 9780195395341.  VSCL.

Mr. Singleton's well argued and carefully documented thesis is that transnational yoga as we know it today, asana practices, emerged from physical culture practices from Europe, Indian nationalism, gymnastics, bodybuilding, medicine, health regimens, New Thought, a Hindu studies revival, fitness and gym business promoters, and the development and expansion of visual media.  This process began in the 1880's and continues to this day. 

"Consider the term Yoga as it refers to modern postural practice as a homonyn, and not a synonym, of the "yoga" associated with the philosophical system of Pantanjali, or the "yoga" that forms and integral component of the Saiva Tantras, or the "yoga" of the Bhagavad Gita, and so on.  In other words, although the word "yoga" as it is used popularly today is identical in spelling and pronunciation in each of these instances, it has quite different meanings and origins."  p.15

"As Joseph Alter has recently argued, a key methodological issue is therefore "how to exercise ethnographic relativism, historical perspectivity and intellectual skepticism all at the same time."  This means critically examining modern yoga's truth claims while seeking to understand under what circumstances and to what ends such claims are made." p.14

The esoteric, magical, religious, New Age, imaginary and spiritual dimensions of "yoga" are definitely part of the currents of contemporary yoga practice and trends in non-church spirituality since the 1880's; but, the bigger picture of its popularity is due to our enthusiasm for fitness, bodybuilding, stress reduction, sexuality, improved health, relaxation, and the "good life." 

Another book that points us in the right direction regarding contemporary yoga practices is:

The Science of Yoga: The Risks and the Rewards  By William J. Broad.  New York, Simon and Schuster, 2012.  Index, bibliography, notes, 298 pages.  ISBN;  9781451641424.  VSCL. 

This book is a must read for those who question the often outlandish claims for the benefits of yoga, are concerned about risky yoga postures, and favor a more scientific approach to yoga practice. 

Finally, I enjoyed reading:

Original Yoga: Rediscovering Traditional Practices of Hatha Yoga  By Richard Rosen.  Illustrations by Evan Yee.  Boston, Shambhala, 2012.  Index, bibliography, glossary, appendices, 286 pages.  ISBN: 9781590308134.  VSCL.  

"The changes the traditional practice went through over the centuries might be considered organic, common to any living organism’s natural evolution. What happened to Hatha Yoga in the early years of the twentieth century, by contrast, happened virtually overnight and was totally "person-made," or artificial. The full story is too long to tell here and has already been masterfully recounted from slightly different perspectives by British researchers Elizabeth de Michelis in A History of Modern Yoga (Continuum, 2004) and Mark Singleton in Yoga Body (Oxford University Press, 2010. Suffice it to say that by the end of the nineteenth century in India, Hatha had fallen on hard times and was on its last trembling leg. Several Indian teachers set out to save Hatha from oblivion; among them was Tirumular Krishnamacharya, whose work provided the impetus for three of our most popular and influential modern teachers: T. K. V. Desikachar (whose teaching was once known as Viniyoga, a term that has since been abandoned); the late K. Pattabhi Jois (who taught Ashtanga-Vinyasa Yoga); and B. K. S. Iyengar, who (though he often adamantly insists there’s no such thing) created Iyengar Yoga. And save Hatha the teachers did. You may have heard or read somewhere that yoga is five thousand years old, a number that’s continually cited by people who should know better, since there’s not a shred of concrete evidence to back it up. What we do know for certain is that the yoga we practice in the West is no more than one hundred years old. Our Indian teachers took what was once the province of a relatively small, loose-knit, mostly male ascetic community that was resolutely living on the fringes of respectable Indian society and transformed it into a worldwide mass movement open to anyone of any age, gender, or physical condition. This is the second meaning of original yoga, the yoga that’s "original" to the twentieth century, or what we call modern Hatha Yoga."  Original Yoga by Richard Rosen

This book includes instructions on some practices for "energizing" aspects of the esoteric body that are typical in Qigong and Yoga.  Those interested in organic energy, Prana, Chi, and nadis/meridians will find it interesting.  

After you set aside the preaching about worshipping Krishna, Shiva, or other Tantric dieties; strange chakras, gunas, and pranic realms; divine grace or higher consciousness; the power of meditation, mudras, and mantras; and Hindu pride ... just stick with the physical practices of yoga to effect significant transformation of your body and mind.  

Consider the situation and determination of the following fellow:

Wittgenstein Supposedly Said

 

The Fireplace Records Case #55

Wittgenstein Supposedly Said

suppose somebody says
suppose one wanted to ask
people will say
you may answer
someone says to me

you may say
suppose it were asked
one might ask
it will be said
suppose he might say

subjunctive mood swings
no one would say
there is a tendency
when do we say
we are inclined to say

Look at it this way
Compare it to this and not to that
More pictures, fewer muddles
Contrast with something similar
Change your point of view

Zen Koans: The Fireplace Records
Koans by Mike Garofalo

Zen Koan Collections Studies

Subject Index to 1,975 Zen Buddhist Koans

Reading Wittgenstein 1975-

Buddhism

Taoism

Philosophy

Quintain Poetry

Pulling Onions

 

Subject Indexes to 1,975 Zen Koans

Zen Koans

Zen Buddhist Koans: Indexes, Information, Bibliography, Commentary

https://www.egreenway.com/buddhism/zenkoans.htm

Subject Index to 1,975 Zen Buddhist Koans

Blue Cliff Record 100 Koans (BCR)

Book of Serenity 100 Koans (BOS)

Dogen's Shinji Mana Shobogenzo 301 Koans (DSMS)

Dogen's Shobogenzo 95 Essays (DSE)

Entangling Vines 272 Koans (ENT)

Fireplace Records 48 Koans (TFR)

Flock of Fools 98 Parables (OHPB)

Gateless Gate 48 Koans (GB)

Iron Flute 100 Koans (IF)

Opening a Mountain 60 Koans (OM)

Record of Empty Hall 100 Koans (REH)

Samurai Zen: The 100 Warrior Koans (SAM)

Suzuki, D. T. 10 Books (SUZ)

Transmission of Light 53 Biographies (TOL)

Vegetable Root Discource (VRD)

The Whole World is a Single Flower 365 Koans (WWSF)

Zen and the Ways 40 Koans (ZWAY)

Zen Echoes 43 Koans (ZE)

Zen Flesh Zen Bones 100 Koans (ZFZB)

Zen Koan Book (TZK)

Zen Master Raven 183 Koans (ZMR)

Dao De Jing - Tao Te Ching (DDJ)

Zhuangzi - Chuang Tzu (ZUAN)

Text Authorities

Koan Database Project Outline

Philosopher's Garden

Koans, Mondos, Dialogues, Tests, Lessons, Lectures, Brief Stories, Anecdotes, Lore, History, Public Records or Cases, Interactions, Parables, Questions and Answers, Puzzles, Challenges, Inquiries, Meditations, Tales, Teaching, Teishos, Introspections, Koans

Subject Index to 1,975 Zen Buddhist Koans

Indexing by Michael P. Garofalo
Fifth Version, August 14, 2023. Updated Monthly. 358 Pages, PDF.
Green Way Research, Vancouver, Washington

Blue Cliff Record 100 Koans (BCR)
Book of Serenity 100 Koans (BOS)
Dao De Jing 81 Chapters (DDJ)
Dogen's Shinji Mana Shobogenzo 300 Koans (DSMS)
Dogen's Shobogenzo 95 Essays Buddhist (DSE)
Entangling Vines 272 Koans (ENT)
Fireplace Records 30 Chapters (TFR)
Flock of Fools: Parable Sutra 98 Koans (OHPS)
Gateless Gate 48 Koans (GB)
Iron Flute 100 Koans (IF)
Opening A Mountain 60 Koans (OM)
Philosopher's Garden (PG)
Record of Empty Hall 100 Koans (REH)
Record of Linji 50 Koans (LIN)
Rinzai Zen Buddhism (RINZ,SOG)
Samurai Zen 100 Warrior Koans (SAM)
Suzuki D.T. 10 Books (SUZ)
Transmission of Light: Keizan 53 Biographies (TOL)
Vegetable Root Discourse (VRD)
The Whole World is a Single Flower 365 Koans (WWSF)
Zen and the Ways (ZWAY)
Zen Echoes 43 Koans (ZE)
Zen Flesh Zen Bones 100 Koans (ZFZB)
Zen Koan Book (TZK)
Zen Master Raven 183 Koans (ZMR)
Zhuangzi 33 Chapters (ZUAN)

Zen Buddhist Koans: Indexes, Information, Bibliography:
https://www.egreenway.com/buddhism/koansdup1.htm

 

Subject Index to 1,975 Zen Buddhist Koans

Keys to Collections of BSL/Koans Databases

 

Become a Stronger Swimmer

 Fireplace Records Case #54

Become a Stronger Swimmer

If one sees me in forms,
If one seeks me in sounds,
He practices a misleading way.
He cannot see the essence of creeds:

All conditioned creeds
are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, shadows,
like dew drops and a lightning flash:
contemplate them thus.

Creeds and doctrines are like a raft
to carry one to the other shore,
and then to relinquish.
Neither cling to the raft forever,
or reject it when drowning.

Even better,
become a stronger swimmer.

Zen Koans: The Fireplace Records
Koans by Mike Garofalo

Zen Koan Collections Studies

Subject Index to 1,975 Zen Buddhist Koans

Reading Wittgenstein

Buddhism

Taoism

Philosophy

Quintain Poetry

Pulling Onions

 

Quiet Independence of Self-Control

"When a person tries to extend
his control over things,
those things will gain control over him.
And the person who is control by things
losses possession of his inner self."

- Chuang Tzu



"The true man of old
Was towering in stature but never collapses,
Seem insufficient but accepted nothing.
Aloofly independent but not obstinate,
Amply empty but not ostentatious,
Demurring, as though he were compelled,
Suffused with an alluring charm,
Endowed with an arresting integrity,
Stern, as though he were worldly,
Arrogant, as though he were uncontrollable,
Reticent, as though he preferred to clam up,
Absent-minded, as thought he forgot what to say."

-  Chuang Tzu, Chapter 6.4
Translated by Victor H. Mair
Wandering on the Way: Early Taoist Tales and Parables of Chuang Tzu, 1994, p.52


It could also be "the true woman of old."  Sometimes the Sage is a woman. Sometimes the Sage is a man.  Some refer using the visually awkward "him/her" phrasing.  

Thou Are Not That

Fireplace Records Case #53

 

Thou Are Not That

"You are That."
i am not That,
but part of That am i
and i a bit of That,
for the time-being

for awhile, for a lifetime,
while That changes.
"That Thou Art."
Thou are not That,
except "That" as understood

as idea, as assumed, as imagined;
          as i
think i am, believe i am, wish i was;
while That changes what i am,
or will be

"That" is elusive, expanding to
the edge of the Big Everything,
at either end of the inside of infinity...
that is the way that That is.
Not like this piece of popcorn on the tip of my tongue.

Zen Koans: The Fireplace Records
Koans by Mike Garofalo

Zen Koan Collections Studies

Subject Index to 1,975 Zen Buddhist Koans

Reading Wittgenstein

Buddhism

Taoism

Philosophy

Quintain Poetry

Pulling Onions

 

The Best Tao Te Ching Website

A typical webpage created by Mike Garofalo for each one of the 81 Chapters (Verses, Sections) of the Tao Te Ching (Daodejing) by Lao Tzu (Laozi) includes over 25 different English language translations or interpolations for that Chapter, 5 Spanish language translations for that Chapter, the Chinese characters for that Chapter, the Wade-Giles and Hanyu Pinyin transliterations (Romanization) of the Mandarin Chinese words for that Chapter, and 2 German and 1 French translation of that Chapter.  

Each webpage for each one of the 81 Chapters of the Tao Te Ching includes extensive indexing by key words, phrases, nouns, verbs, adjectives and terms for that Chapter in English, Spanish, and the Wade-Giles Romanization.  This is the most extensive Concordance of the Dao De Jing available online.  

The Best Dao De Jing Website

Each webpage on a Chapter of the Daodejing includes recommended reading in books and websites, a detailed bibliography, some commentary, research leads, translation sources, and other resources for that Chapter.  

Each webpage includes a Google Translate drop down menu at the top that enables you to read these 81 webpages in over 100 languages.

The Most Complete Daodejing Website

Chapter Indexing, Concordance, for the Tao Te Ching

English Language Daodejing Translators' Source Index

Spanish Language Daodejing Translators' Source Index

Ripening Peaches: Taoist Studies and Practices

Taoism: A Selected Reading List

Concordance to the Tao Te Ching 

One Old Daoist Druid's Final Journey  

The Most Useful Tao Te Ching Website

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

The Case of the Fly in the Kitchen

Fireplace Records Case #52

The Case of the Fly in the Kitchen

You say that the world is everything

that is the case.

What would it be like

if it were not?

What's not the case? Plenty! Case Closed!

When nothing the case?

Seems a mistake.

Like a reductio ad absurdum clam bake,

When nobody came,

early or late.

Or it's not the case that the world

is everything that is the case.

What? Strange? A fly buzzing in a bottle.

That "Fish fly to Seattle" is not the case

still tells us something about the world we make.

Or is it that not everything

in the world is the case.

That suggestion

that's learning towards truth

in some comforting familiar manner

Appeals to my communal action words, and

My idiosyncratic individual voice in time.

Was it:

Was it the case once in the past or not?

Is it now the case or not?

Will it ever be the case or not?

Was everything ever the case? Ever?

We enjoyed those playful games:

wrestling with hypothetical cases,

find the imaginary treasure chest,

watching the film detective solve the case,

Until they broke the lock on her case.

a case

the case

one case

many cases

Closed Case

Zen Koans: The Fireplace Records
Koans by Mike Garofalo

Zen Koan Collections Studies

Subject Index to 1,975 Zen Buddhist Koans

Reading Wittgenstein

Buddhism

Pulling Onions