Cape Lookout Yurt Camping/Retreat

I have reservations for yurt camping here in March of 2027.

Repeat Post from February, 2022:

This is my second Yurt Camping trip this year to Cape Lookout State Park in Northwestern Coastal Oregon, about 15 miles west of Tillamook.  Here is a post from my last trip on February 7, 2022.  

I will add photos and comments about my current trip on October 10,2022, next Friday 10/14, after I return home to my computer and an Internet connection.  Therefore, no blog posts until 10/14.  

Report from October 10, 2022:

Nice paved campground areas for the solo practice of Chen Taijiquan.  
Weather expected: Low of 47F, High of 65F, light winds, overcast in morning and sunny in afternoon, no rain predicted.  
I have an injured right thumb and hand, kept in a large black support brace (soft cast).  This slows my ability to move camping support items.  No fractures per Xrays, and orthopedic physical therapy scheduled in two weeks.  Lots of fumbling when handling things.
Driving route the same as in last February.  

Now Reading:

"The Sea and Civilization: A Maritime History of the World."  By Lincoln Paine.  Vintage Books, 2013, 744 pages, extensive notes, bibliography, and index.  VSCL.

"Waves and Beaches: The Powerful Dynamics of Sea and Coast."  By Willard Bascom and Kim McCoy.  Patagonia, 1964 and 2020, 401 pages, index.  VSCL. 

"Therapy of Desire: by Martha Nussbaum.  Hellenistic Ethics: Aristotle, Epicureans, Skeptics, and Stoics.

Chen Taijiquan Books

Report from February 7, 2022:

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.  

Very little traffic today from Banks to Cape Lookout State Park.  How pleasant a drive for sightseeing.  

The fog lifted in the afternoon over low tide at Netarts Bay.

Here are some photographs by me from this Cape Lookout Trip:

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.  

Sand Spit of Netarts Bay
Looking North
From the Internet

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.  

The Northwest Coast: Or, Three Year's Residence in Washington Territory.  By James G. Swan.  Introduction by Norman H. Clark.  University of Washington, 1857, 1969, 1999.  429 pages.  FVRL library book.  

Here is some additional information about the Cape Lookout Area: Netarts Bay, Cape Lookout State Park, Tillamook, Tillamook Bay.

Cape Lookout State Park     Images   Many options for walking and hiking in this part of the rugged Oregon coastline. 

Cape Lookout State Park

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

Clay Myers State Natural Area

Bob Straub State Park

Cape Lookout Hiking Trail

Tillamook Coast Visitors Guide

North Coast Food Trail

Munson Creek Falls State Natural Site

Sand Lake Recreation Area

Three Capes Scenic Loop

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
 

Netarts - Cafes

Netarts Bay 

Netarts Bay Trip Advisor

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

Netarts Travel

Naveen's Bayside Market and Deli in Netarts

Netarts - Tillamook Coast

The Schooner Restaurant and Lounge in Netarts  Very good meals!  

 

Netarts Bay Geology

Netarts Bay, at maximum high tide, is 9 feet deep on the average. 

Beach Sand Composition Geology

Three Arch Rocks

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

Ten Transformative Practices (Paramitas)

 The Essence of the Ten Transformative Practices

"Generosity arises from unselfishness and nonattachment.

Ethics involves virtue, integrity, and self-discipline.

Patience requires resilience, acceptance, and fortitude.

Effort means courage in joyous perseverance.

Meditation implies mindfulness, concentration, reflection, and introspection.

Transcendental wisdom includes discernment and self-knowledge.

Skillful means arise from resourcefulness and imagination.

Spiritual aspirations include noble intention and resolve.

Higher accomplishments require leadership, powers, and positive influence.

Awakened awareness means pristine realization.

These are the ten arms and legs of the radiant body of the Bodhisattva,
Whose heart is Bodhicitta, selfless love and compassion.

- Buddha Is as Buddha Does: The Ten Original Practices for Enlightened Living By Lama Surya Das, 2007.

Virtue Ethics Studies
Buddhist, Taoist, Confucian, Philosophers
By Michael P. Garofalo

 

How to Live a Good Life: Advice from Wise and Respected Persons

Virtue Ethics

Paramitas

The Ethical Precepts and Philosophical Tenets of Zen Buddhism

The Ten Grave Precepts (Rules, Guidelines, Principles of Behavior)

Pragmatism

Taoism

Buddhism

 

Shibashi Qigong Exercises

The Tai Chi Qigong Shibashi Series was created by Professor Lin Hou Sheng from China.  Part 1, 18 movements (Shi Ba Shi) was created in 1979.  Part 2, 18 movements, was created in 1988.  Four more Tai Chi Qigong 18 movement sets were created in the 1990's.  Professor Lin's best selling book, Qi Gong is the Answer to Health, was first published in 1985 in China.  

There are numerous versions of this type of exercise.  Sometimes you see the same name refer to two different movements.  The order of the movements vary.  Some creativity by the practitioners are involved.  

The movements are done slowly, gently, and deliberately.  Deep breathing is coordinated carefully with each movement sequence.  There is little or no movement of the feet.  Suitable for persons of all ages.  A number of the hand movements are similar to those used in Yang style Taijiquan.   

Tai Chi Qigong Shibashi: Bibliography, Links, Videos, Lessons, Resources. 
By Mike Garofalo.


The Theory and Practice of Taiji Qigong.  By Chris Jarmey.  North Atlantic Books, 2005.  192 pages.

Part 1, Eighteen Movements (Shibashi) Qigong, Tai Chi Qigong

1.   Awakening the Qi
2.   Opening the Chest   
3.   Painting the Rainbow
4.   Separating the Clouds
5.   Cycling the Arms
6.   Paddle a Boat 
7.   Lifting the Sun  
8.   Turn the Body and Look at the Moon  
9.   Push the Palms  
10.  Rolling Tai Ji  
11.  Lift and Spray the Water  
12.  Push the Wave  
13.  Let the Dove Free  
14.  Punching the Mud  
15.  Flying Wild Goose  
16.  Hug and Swing the Sun  
17.  Bounce the Ball  
18.  Quieting the Qi  

Text Art: Exhibit 9

Portrait of Murasaki Shikibu, Tosa Mitsuoki

Etchings #5, Roland Sabatier and Alain Satie

Lettrie a ouvrir des horizons nouveaux, Roland Sabatier

Palavras em Libertdad, Fillipe Martinelli

Nothing, Nico Vassilakis

Communicating Via Text
By Michael P. Garofalo
Concrete Poetry Website

Hypergraphie Infinitesmial, Broutin

TeXTArt

Concrete Poetry and TextArt Directory and Guide

Exhibits at the Cyber Garden Gazebo

Graphic Arts: Shape Poems: Lettrisme

Sunday TextArt Exhibits

Cape Disappointment State Park, Washington

 I will be yurt camping here at Cape Disappointment State Park, Southwestern Washington; in December of 2026.

I will add new photos and notes on January 9, 2024.

Home for four days, Yurt Y88, Cape Disappointment State Park.

It is dark from 5 pm to 7:30 am = 14.5 hours.
It was cold outside: 35F to 42F, 26 mph wind, intermittent rain.

Inside, dry, locked tight, warmed by a small electric heater.
I bring my own 2'x3' desk, chair, books, Jackery power, toys, games, crafts.
I bring plenty of extra lighting.
For food I eat oranges, apples, dried apricots, nuts, crackers, coffee, dried beef, cookies.

Cozy Yurt Camping.
Y88 had a sturdy small 3'x3' table and two woods chairs. 
Sofabed OK.  Used bunk bed to store all my gear.  No wastebasket.

I drove and walked the road
along the North Jetty.  Very windy.

200 yards west of my Yurt Campsite
is a couple of miles of sandy beach.
Lots of driftwood from King High Tides.

 

There is a long drive from the Visitor Center
to the Yurt Campsite.  Many sloughs, lagoons, lowlands, trees, shrubs,
mosses, and grasses along the roadway

Black Lake north of Ilwaco
Many trails around the lake.

Cape Disappointment State Park  CR  Camping, Yurts, Fishing, Trails     Images

Cape Disappointment Lighthouse  In operation since 1856. 

Cape Disappointment Weather

Lewis and Clark Interpretative Center   History     Wikipedia

Discovery Bicycling and Walking Trail

Fort Canby State Park is the old name for Cape Disappointment State Park   

Travel Adventure and Ghost Tales and History  

North Head Lighthouse     Images

U.S. Coast Guard Station  

"Cape Disappointment State Park (formerly Fort Canby State Park) is a public recreation area on Cape Disappointment, located southwest of Ilwaco, Washington, on the bottom end of Long Beach Peninsula, the northern headlands where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean. The state park's 2,023 acres (819 ha) encompass a diverse landscape of old-growth forest, freshwater lakes, freshwater and saltwater marshes, and oceanside tidelands. Park sites include Fort Canby, the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, North Head Lighthouse, and Cape Disappointment Lighthouse.[2] Cape Disappointment is one of several state parks and sites in Washington and Oregon that are included in Lewis and Clark National Historical Park.[3]"

   I have camped here twice. 

 

ntment State Park Trip, Southwestern Washington, Yurt Camping, Day 2

Tao Te Ching, Chapter 77, by Lao Tzu

Daodejing, Laozi
Chapter 77

"The way of heaven,
Is it not like stretching a bow?
What is high up is pressed down,
What is low down is lifted up;
What has surplus is reduced,
What is deficient is supplemented.
The way of heaven,
It reduces those who have surpluses,
To supplement those who are deficient.
The human way is just not so.
It reduces those who are deficient,
To offer those who have surpluses.
Who can offer his surpluses to the world?
Only a person of Tao.
Therefore the sage works (wei) without holding on to,
Accomplishes without claiming credit.
Is it not because he does not want to show off his merits?"
-  Translated by Ellen M. Chen, 1989, Chapter 77  


"The Tao of Heaven resembles a drawn bow.
It brings down the high and exalts the lowly;
it takes from those who have superfluity,
and gives to those who have not enough.
The Tao of Heaven abstracts where there is too much,
and supplements where there is deficiency.
The Tao of men does not so.
It takes away from what is already deficient
in order to bestow on those who have a superfluity.
Who is able to devote his surplus to the needs of others?
Only he who is possessed of Tao. 
Thus it is that the Sage acts, yet does not plume himself;
achieves works of merit, yet does not hold to them.
He has no wish to make a display of his worthiness."
-  Translated by Frederic H. Balfour, 1884, Chapter 77  

"The Path of Heaven is like bending a bow-
the upper part is pressed down,
the lower part is raised up;
the part which has much is reduced,
the part that has little is increased.

Therefore, the Path of Heaven
reduced surplus to make up for scarcity;
the way of mankind's Ego
reduces scarcity and pays tribute to surplus!

Who is there who can have a surplus
and take from it to pay tribute to Heaven?
Surely, only one who is on the Path.

For this reason, Sages transact, but do not hoard,
complete their work but do not dwell upon it.
In this way, they have no desire to display their 'worth.' "
-  Translated by Jerry C. Welch, 1998, Chapter 77

"The Tao of Heaven,
Is it not like the bending of a bow?
The top comes down and the bottom-end goes up,
The extra length is shortened, the insufficient width is expanded.
It is the way of Heaven to take away from those that have too much
And give to those that have not enough.
Not so with man's way:
He takes from those that have not
And gives it as tribute to those that have too much.
Who can have enough and to spare to give to the entire world?
Only the man of Tao.
Therefore the Sage acts, but does not possess,
Accomplishes but lays claim to no credit,
Because he has no wish to seem superior."
-  Translated by Lin Yutang, 1955, Chapter 77 

天之道, 其猶張弓與?
高者抑之,
下者舉之,
有餘者損之,
不足者補之.

天之道損有餘而補不足,
人之道則不然,
損不足以奉有餘.
孰能有餘以奉天下?

唯有道者.
是以聖人為而不恃, 
功成而不處,
其不欲見賢.
-  Chinese characters, Chapter 77, Tao Te Ching

tian zhi dao, qi you zhang gong yu?
gao zhe yi zhi,
xia zhe ju zhi,
you yu zhe sun zhi,
bu zu zhe bu zhi.

tian zhi dao sun you yu er bu bu zu,
ren zhi dao ze bu ran,
sun bu zu yi feng you yu.
shu neng you yu yi feng tian xia?

wei you dao zhe.
shi yi sheng ren wei er bu shi,
gong cheng er bu chu,
qi bu yu xian xian.
-  Pinyin Romanization, Chapter 77, Daodejing 

"Bend the bow and embrace the tiger
to emulate the way of heave
drawn with resoluteness
the bow changes length and width
turning in on itself
released with resoluteness
the bow projects its arrow fixedly to a target
by equalizing itself
the bow can shoot up or down as needed
always seeking to balance out
flexibility and cohesion
always seeking to resolve
excesses of energy and deficiencies of energy
equalizing and balancing out and resolving
are the ways of heaven
but the ways of man
make things unequal
imbalanced and unresolved
cutting man off from heaven and earth
only a sage wise man humbly cultivating the tao
     way of life
can entreat heaven on man's behalf
asking heaven
to reestablish the natural order
by not asking heaven
when he is successful
he does not dwell on it
displaying his skill at emulating the way of heaven
he simply smiles
and moves on to the next task."
-  Translated by John Bright-Fey, Chapter 77

"Is not Tao like the drawn bow?
The highest part is lowered,
the lowest part is raised.
Overall length is shortened,
overall depth is lengthened.

So the Great Tao
lowers the highest and raises the lowest.
But the Tao of man
increases the high and decreases the low.

Who can take from the high and give to the low?
Only the true follower of Tao.

Thus, the truly wise act but are not possessive,
achieve but claim no credit,
because they have no desire for vain glory."
-  Translated by C. Ganson, Chapter 77 

¿Acaso el camino del cielo no procede
igual que el que tensa un arco?
Rebaja lo que está arriba
y elva lo que está arriba
y elva lo que está abajo;
quita lo que sobra
y reemplaza lo que falta.
El camino del Cielo quita el excedente
para compensar lo que falta.
El camino del hombre es my distinto:
el homre quita al indigente
para sumárselo al rico.
¿Quién puede dar al mundo lo que tiene de superfluo
sino el que posee el Tao?
El santo actúa sin esperar nada
lleva a cabo su obra sin encapricharse con ella
y mantiene escondido su mérito."
-  Translated by Alba, 1998, Tao Te Ching, Capítulo 77 


"The Tao of heaven is like the art of archery,
tall man, aim low;
short man, aim high.
If the string is too long, shorten it;
not enough, lengthen it.
The Tao of heaven is just like that,
short the long, long the short.
Man's way is different.
He takes from those who do not have enough,
to give to those who already have too much.
Who can have anything left for taking?
Only the man of Tao, as sage,
works without taking,
achieves without keeping,
does not show his greatness."
-  Translated by Tienzen Gong, Chapter 77 


"Is not the Tao of heaven like the drawing of a bow?
It brings down the part which is high; it raises the part which is low;
it lessens the part which is redundant (convex); it fills up the part which is insufficient (concave).
The Tao of heaven is to lessen the redundant and fill up the insufficient.
The Tao of man, on the contrary, is to take from the insufficient and give to the redundant.
Who can take from the redundant and give to the insufficient?
Only he who has Tao can.
Therefore the Sage does not horde.
The more he helps others, the more he benefits himself the more he gives to others, the more he gets himself.
The Tao of heaven does one good but never does one harm; the Tao of the Sage acts but never contends."
-  Translated by Ch'u Ta-Kao, 1904, Chapter 77  



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, and terms for that Chapter in English, Spanish, and the Wade-Giles Romanization.  Each webpage on a Chapter of the Daodejing includes recommended reading in books and websites, a detailed bibliography, some commentary, research leads, translation sources, a Google Translate Webpage drop down menu, and other resources for that Chapter.   

Chapter 77, Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

Chapter and Thematic Index (Concordance) to the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

English Language Daodejing Translators' Source Index

Spanish Language Daodejing Translators' Source Index

Ripening Peaches: Taoist Studies and Practices

Taoism: A Selected Reading List

One Old Daoist Druid's Final Journey  


 

Voting in the United States, 2026

 My wife and I voted by mail in Washington State, Clark County, this week. We have voted in Clark County for the past 10 years.

We support Democratic candidates and have done so for the sixty years we have both voted.

We both have been discouraged by the erratic and poor performance of the current President
and Congress. Unnecessary war, increased food prices, tariffs, uncompetent Cabinet, lies,
and destruction of White House property, his graft...

We both have faced poor health in recent weeks and this has delayed posting.

Improve Your Mood

Boost Your Mood, Pick Yourself Up
Revitalize Yourself, Banish the Blues  

Be grateful for the good in your life.   
Give yourself permission to be human.
Brighten someone’s day. 
Learn something new. 
Listen to upbeat music.
Do some exercise on a regular basis.
Simplify your life, remove clutter, and clean. 
Go for a walk. 
Enjoy sex and discover romance. 
Get organized.
Do a good deed or volunteer.  
Smile and put on a happy face. 
Indulge your senses. 
Seek and cultivate beauty. 
Take time to breathe deeply. 
Look at some old photos. 
Focus on the positive. 
Forgive yourself. 
Get some fresh air. 
Eat often and eat light. 
Begin a program of meditation or contemplation.
Talk with your physician or counselor.   
Cook and prepare a lovely and tasty meal. 
Eat something nutritious like nuts or fruit. 
Pamper yourself.
Alter your routines in some way. 
Have confidence. 
Talk with your spouse. 
Fake it till you make it. 
Sign a song out loud. 
Tap into your creative side. 
Take up a mind-body practice like Taijiquan, Qigong or Yoga. 
Inhale a calming scent. 
Sit quietly, rest, or sleep. 
Brainstorm a problem for solutions. 
Avoid bad or negative companions, and find good friends. 
Watch a good non-violent movie. 
Work in the garden. 
Cool down strong emotions. 
Take some vacation time for relaxation and retreat. 
Look on the Bright Side.
Small steps of progress are better than no steps. 
Avoid watching the news for a week. 
Don’t take yourself too seriously. 
Focus on past successes, not failures. 
Create a wish list and make one wish come true.
Explore ways to boost your self-esteem. 
Focus on what you can control and what you can change.
Get some more sunlight on your body. 
Choose your attitude and how you will react to life's events. 
Spend less, avoid shopping. 
Stop all cussing, swearing, or rude language. 
Keep a journal or express yourself in writing. 
Go easy on yourself and yield.  
Count your blessings. 
Spend some time with children. 
Take a long shower or refreshing soaking bath. 
Get relevant and accurate information. 
Chat with a friendly person or neighbor.
Things change and time heals. 
Adapt, adapt, adapt. 
Agree to disagree; you don’t need to win every argument.   
Think fast.
Consider vitamin or herbal supplements that lift mood. 
Seek professional help for serious mental health problems. 
Read something inspiring. 
Avoid comparing yourself to others, and envy is a waste of time.
Try praying or chanting. 
Evaluate and revise your goals. 
Don't sweat the small stuff. 
Pet your dog or cat and care for them. 
Get a massage.
Enjoy a non-competitive sport. 
Try fasting or staying up all night. 
Donate your stuff, your skills, or your time.   
Forgive and forget. 
Dance till you are tired. 
Punch a bag or bang on a drum. 
Stop using any recreational drugs. 
Spend some time with children. 
Abandon false ideas and unrealistic aims. 
Enjoy a refreshing drink. 
Make someone laugh. 
Allow yourself to be eccentric, and enjoy some silly thoughts.
Have a bowl of soup or a cup of tea. 
Less talking and more doing. 
Get up, dress up, and show up. 
Observe nature carefully and respectfully.
Visit your public library and borrow some beautiful books. 
Be less self-centered and selfish. 
A spiritual advisor, rituals, or religious beliefs can sometimes help.
Love expands your horizons of caring and happiness. 
Accept the fact that some things are broken and can't be fixed.
Memorize and inspirational saying, prayer, poem or quote. 
Call or visit a sick person. 
Play a game. 

By Mike Garofalo
Valley Spirit Center
Red Bluff, California  

How to Live a Good Life: Advice from Wise Persons

Ways to Lift Your Spirits (3 pages, PDF Format)

Virtues and Good Character

Fitness and Well-Being

Tick-Tock Tractatus by Mike Garofalo, Section 7

The Tick-Tock Tractatus

Speaking of Time: The Poetic Investigations

By Michael P. Garofalo

            

                
        August Offerings, Red Bluff CA, 2010, MPG

 

 

Sections

1. Time: time-space, movement, measurement

2. Past: memories, habits, fixed, specific, tradition

3. Present: now, here-now, day, duration

4. Future: maybe, planned, anticipated, uncertain

5. Passing: change, cycles, aging, growth, death

6. Beginning: renewal, starting, enthusiasm

7. Psychology: learning, experience, knowing

8. Middle: in progress, half-way, steady, living

9. Language: poetry, philosophy, ordinary

10. Silence: inexpressive, nonsense, illogical

11. Mystical: numinous, profound, intense, insightful,

12. Beauty: art, crafts, music, reading/writing

13. Social: ethics, morality, economics, manners, value

14. Philosophy: ethics, history, analysis, arguments, logic

15. History: landmark events, books/printing, memory

16. Eternity: forever, infinite, unimaginable, death

 

Preface

Key to Books Cited

Bundled Up Quintains about Time

Additional Notes

7.   Psychology: experience, learning,
      phenomenology, sense of time, personal

 

7.1
Generalities, Questions, Quips

What you see depends on when you look.
What you hear requires you to listen now.

Time is our 6th Sense.

The Specious Present extends consciousness
to include a pinch of the past,
a pinch of the future,
and the fullness of the now.

Give awareness a 5 second window
for processing perceptions.

Afraid to run out of time.
He had time on his hands, then dropped it.

Your brain works on time schedules.

"The quality of attention determines
the nature of the experience."
Joanne Kyger

BU794, GC§14

The Five Senses

 

7.2
Using vs Knowing

We knew that water was essential,
but did not know it was H2O;
We knew the sun was hot,
but had no concept of nuclear.
It works but we don't know how or why.

BU2930

History of Science

 

7.2.1
Unfolding Time

     Implicate orders of a
Underlying Reality
Unfolding Being... and the
     Explicate orders of
ordinary common things.

BU1149, GC§7

David Bohm

Net of Indra

 

7.3.1
End Game

They ran out of time
The game ended on time
They lost this time.
They all got back to the bus in time.
They will do better next time.

BU2835

 

7.3.1.1
The Game of Death

I'm too old
for any real Destiny
except for Death
creeping up to me, tagging Me:
"Your It!"

BU891, GC§36

 

7.3.1.2
Impermanence of Samsara

Samsara is Nirvana?
10,000 Things are Nothing?
Past and future are gone (Empty?).
The Present is gone in a Flash.
What's left? Samsara won't last.

BU918

 

7.3.1.3
Silent Lips

          The sting of Death,
the sharp pains of unseeing,
the final closing of the eyes,
the silent lips of emptiness...
faces lost forever in future times.

BU1246

 

7.3.2
Better Next Month

That such and such is the case
May piss me off for all the day
Why should it be this damn way?

Next month, such and such will not be the case.
I will be very pleased come that day.

BU3431

Quintain Poetry

Time Explained: Experience, Consciousness and Relativity.
By Alan Bennett, 2026.

Reading Wittgenstein 1975-

 

7.3.2.1
Timely Emotions

Emotions cluster around Immediacy.
Distant futures lack emotional density.
We feel very little about 2222 CE.
Few have any passion for far distant unrealities.
We lust after, say, Hot SEX Today! Fuck the Future!

BU3371

Emotions and Time

 

7.3.3
Take it Slow

Travel light
Even yesterday is a heavy backpack.
Travel slowly
Even tomorrow can wait---
Move on, don't hesitate.

BU2890

Time, Change, Freedom:
An Introduction to Metaphysics
By Nathan Oaklander

 

7.3.4
Differences and Distinctions

Things that look the same
are often really different---
in a web of new respects as to usage
in a web of words wedded meanings
in a different place in space/time.

BU2968

Appearances

 

7.3.5
Time Snuck By

The time sauntered by
invisibly, casually, punctually...
I barely noticed.
so busy with pressing deeds---
time flew by in a gentle breeze.

BU3083

"... time is not a linear flow, as we think it is,
into past, present, and future. Time is an
indivisible whole, a great pool in which all
events are eternally embodied and still have
their meaningful flash of super-normal or
extra-sensory perception, and a glimpse of
something that happened long ago in our
linear time."
- Frank Waters, Mountain Dialogues, 1981

 

7.3.5.1
The Time of Inner Mind

Under the Water
of my mind
an unconscious Sea
of Memories
guide me through time

Keep me on a course line
send me some signs
become conscious at times...
freedom may a fiction be
controlled by unknown destinies.

Bring the Unconscious,
Sub-Conscious, ego, and Id,
Collective Unconscious figured in—
Over the waves of Consciousness
the flotsam of Unknowns are adrift.

BU9

The Gushen Grove Sonnets

The Five Senses

 

7.3.5.2
Opportunities for Change

Aging provides
more opportunities
for becoming the person
you should
have been.

BU995

Aging Wisely

 

7.3.5.3
Bent and Twisted

My experiences at times
have not damaged or broken me;
     but, indeed,
     have bent and twisted
          my identity.

BU3528

How to Live a Good Life
Advice from Wise and Respected Persons

 

7.3.5.4
Who Am I?

my identity
exists for me
resting on the shoulders
of my memories
substantially

BU3131

Personal Identity

Identity

 

7.3.5.5
A Conscience for the Future

The Id is only Present Tense Alive,
focused on immediate needs
and drives flowing bodily, incessantly,
facing only nowness craving sensuality---
The Super-Ego, Conscience, has future schemes.

BU3355

Freudian Psychology

Conscience

 

7.3.5.6
Perspectives Towards Time

Past-positive: In the good old days...
Past-negative: My childhood was painful...
Present-hedonistic: I want some fun now...
Present-fatalistic: Que Sera, Sera
Future-options: Here is the schedule for tomorrow...
Transcendental-future: We want to go to Heaven...

The Time Paradox, p. 30-69

BU1575

Oulipos Quintain Museum

Time Research

 

7.3.6
Appear and Disappear

Time is an idea about
how objects/things interact,
move from place to place,
appear and disappear untraced,
are at our hands for work and play.

BU3022

Time - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

An Introduction to the Philosophy of Time, 2018

Time Research

Reism Reism is the doctrine that only things exist.

 

7.3.6.1
subjective/objective?

Our naive perceptions of Time,
Sequenced cause-effect Directionality,
Time headed south for sleepy entropy--
Was this merely my subjective Kantian processing;
or is it true of Nature's own activities?

BU3146

- Immanuel Kant

Kantian Space and Time

Kant holds that we can't have any experience
unmediated by our internal mental temporal
modes of being and understanding. Time is
constructed by our minds.

Reism Reism is the doctrine that only things exist.

 

7.3.7
Heartbeats of Time

The ticking of the metronome:
It's a lie told by a machine.
My heartbeat
     is a truth
          told by my body.

BU3192

Felt Time, by Marc Wittmann, 2017

Time and Free Will, Henri Bergson, 1910

Living in Time, by Barry Allen, 2023

Henri Bergson (1859-1941)

 

7.3.7.2
Stretched Tight

between
two eternities
     my brief life
               is stretched
tight

 

BU1503, BU978

CHB: Time

- Being and Time, by Martin Heidegger

Time is our 6th Sense.

Five Senses

 

7.3.7.3
What to Defer

Live Now in this moment
Cultivate presence within Today.
But, unwise to act exclusively
Within pleasures only of today---
Deferment of pleasure... time to delay.

BU3349

Bundled Up: Volume 2

 

Table of Contents