A Beaver in Our Back Yard

We have lived in a rural area in the North Sacramento Valley since 1998.  Our home is on a five acre parcel of land.  There are two small ponds on our property that attract many species of wildlife.  

Over the years, we have observed numerous wild mammals on our property: bats, coyotes, ferral cats, foxes, gophers, mice, moles, possums, raccoons, rats, and skunks.  

This week, our next door neighbor, Debbie, called us and said that a beaver was in her back yard.  There is a large pond west of Debbie's home and property. 

Yes, a beaver!!  Very curious.  Very unusual.  Pictured below.  

Mrs. Murphy, who lives 120 yards east of us, told us that beavers lived in her large pond a few years back.  

Beavers

The Spirit of Gardening

Animals

Animals around our Home and Gardens

Flourishing in the Dao

"The secret of the Tao Te Ching is its idea of Tao, modeled on the life of a plant.  Just as a living plant is tender and yielding (Chapter 76), so is Tao weak and yielding (Chapter 40).  With plants the hidden roots support the visible leaves and flowers, which return to the roots upon perishing (Chapter 16).  Likewise, Tao is the hidden root (Chapter 6), the non-being from which all beings spring (Chapter 40 and Chapter 21) and to which all beings return (Chapter 34).  The life of a plant is conditioned by seasonal rotation.  So is the movement of Tao in four stages: great (summer), disappearing (fall), far away (winter), and return (spring) (Chapter 25).  In the same way does the Taoist model spiritual life after a plant.  A living plant is tender and pliant, whole a dead plant is stiff and hard (Chapter 76); one who is with the Tao is also tender and pliant, while one who departs from the Tao is stiff and hard.  The plant kingdom is a quiet kingdom (Chapter 16) that sleeps in beauty; Taoist quietude is the spiritual condition for regeneration.  A plant grows at its own pace.  One must not, like the farmer in the Mencius (2A.2), help the growth of the corn stalks by pulling them up.  In the same way the Taoist allows events to unfold according to their inner rhythms; he acts by non-action (wu-wei), which is acting with, not against, the inner rhythms of things.  A plant is always renewing itself; the Taoist celebrates perpetual childhood (Chapter 55)."
-  Ellen M. Chen, The Tao Te Ching: A New Translation with Commentary, 1989, p. 41

Spirituality and Gardening

Nature Mysticism
 

A typical webpage created by Mike Garofalo for each one of the 81 Chapters of the Tao Te Ching (Daodejing) by Lao Tzu (Laozi) includes 20 different translations or interpolations of each Chapter in English, 3 Spanish translations for each Chapter, the Chinese characters for each Chapter, and a Wade-Giles and Hanyu Pinyin Romanization of the Mandarin Chinese words for each Chapter; extensive indexing by key words and terms for each Chapter in English, Spanish, and the Wade-Giles Romanization is provided; recommended reading in books and websites, a detailed bibliography, some commentary, research leads, translation sources, and other resources for each Chapter are included. 


"The first act of awe, when man was struck with the beauty or wonder of Nature, was the first spiritual experience."
-  Henryk Skolimowski   

"A little too abstract, a little too wise,
It is time for us to kiss the earth again,
It is time to let the leaves rain from the skies,
Let the rich life run to the roots again."
-  Robinson Jeffers

"In the assemblies of the enlightened ones there have been many cases of mastering the Way bringing forth the heart of plants and trees; this is what awakening the mind for enlightenment is like.  The fifth patriarch of Zen was once a pine-planting wayfarer; Rinzai worked on planting cedars and pines on Mount Obaku.   ...  Working with plants, trees, fences and walls, if they practice sincerely they will attain enlightenment." 
-  Dogen Zenji, Japanese Zen Buddhist Grand Master , Awakening the Unsurpassed Mind, #31 

"Gardening helps us realize somatically, viscerally, the laws of growth and gradual unfolding.  We can't pull the plants up to make them grow, but we can help facilitate and midwife their blooming, each in his own way, time, and proper season.  I have learned a little about patience and humility from my gardens.  It's so obviously not something I'm doing that creates this miracle!  I also like to reflect upon and appreciate the exquisitely, evanescent, transitory, and poignant nature of things in the garden.  If you love the Dharma, you have to farm it. Go to a garden.  Just stand in it.  Breathe in the air, the fragrances, the light, the temperature, the music of the different plants, insects, birds, worms, caterpillars, grasshoppers, and butterflies.  Inhale the prana (cosmic energy) of all the abundantly growing things.  Recharge your inner batteries.  This is the joy of natural meditation."
-  Lama Surya Das, Awakening to the Sacred, 1999

Advice for Seniors

"Housing Tips and Advice from The National Aging in Place Council

The Boomer’s Roadmap for Aging in Place: How to Prepare Today for your Senior Years

Preventing Falls at Home

Fall Prevention Tips for Seniors | A Home Design Guide

Exercise & Physical Activity: Your Everyday Guide from the National Institute on Aging

The Benefits of Cooking with Alzheimer’s: A Caregiver’s Guide

14 Ways to Help Seniors Avoid Isolation

Canine Caregivers for Dementia and Alzheimer’s Patients

A Senior’s Guide to Using Computers and Software

Economic Security for Seniors Facts

Home Safety and Security for Aging-in-Place Seniors"


Links provided by Elder Impact:

Marie Villeza
information@elderimpact.org ǀ http://elderimpact.org/
340 S. Lemon Ave #5780 ǀ Walnut, CA ǀ 91789

Here are some resources for Seniors that Mike Garofalo has added to his hypertext notebooks:  

Aging Well

How to Live a Good Life

Fitness Methods for Seniors

T'ai Chi Ch'uan Cane Practices

The only martial arts weapon that I practice with is a cane.  I practice all the Taijiquan sword and broadsword forms that I know with a cane. 

Every time I take a walk I carry my cane with me.  Using various cane strikes and stretches while walking is an excellent way to exercise the upper torso.

I use an Instructor's Walking Cane, 40" (103 cm) long and 1" (2.54 cm) in diameter, from Cane Masters.  This cane weights 1lb, 2 oz (510 gm).  This beautiful martial arts combat cane is made of pure hickory heartwood, has multiple notches at three key gripping points, has a rounded hooked horn, and has a rubber covered tip.  I also own the same Instructor's Walking Cane made of oak - a gift from my children.
 

Way of the Short Staff.  By Michael P. Garofalo, M.S.  A comprehensive guide to the practice of the short staff, cane, jo, walking stick, gun, zhang, whip staff, 13 Hands Staff, and related wood short staff weapons.  A detailed and annotated guide, bibliographies, lists of links, resources, instructional media, online videos, and lessons.   Includes use of the short staff and cane in martial arts, self-defense, walking and hiking.  Separate sections on Aikido Jo, Cane, Taijiquan cane and staff, Jodo, exercises with a short staff, selected quotations, techniques, selecting and purchasing a short staff, tips and suggestions, and a long section on the lore, legends, and magick of the short staff.  Includes "Shifu Miao Zhang Points the Way."  Published by Green Way Research, Valley Spirit Taijiquan, Red Bluff, California.  Updated on a regular basis since October, 2008.  Filesize: 265Kb.  Related to Mike's popular webpage on the Staff.

"The correct use of the bo (sai, tonfa, kama, naginata, sword) can produce a stimulating and practical means of "extension" training. It offers a means of martial arts training and discipline. Weapons training teaches the meaning of control, timing, distance, and flexibility as one unit. The practitioner is required to possess speed, coordination, strength, and endurance in utilizing the respective weapons."
-  History of the Bo Staff

"The jo can be used to strike like a sword, sweep like a naginata, thrust like a spear (yari). Its two ends can be used, unlike the single point of a sword, and its ma-ai (fighting distance) can be varied according to the hand grip you take. Because of its speed and changeable ma-ai, it is a formidable weapon."
-  Muso Shindo-Ryu Jodo   

"In Chinese shamanism, a staff represents the power of the universe. With a staff, a shaman had the power to pass on the universal knowledge to others. Later, when teachers took over part of the shaman's job, they always taught with a small staff in their hands like a shaman."
- Master Zhongxian Wu, Vital Breath of the Dao, p. 106

Way of the Short Staff

Taijiquan Cane

Staff Weapons in Martial Arts

32 Cane Form by Master Jesse Tsao

Sifu Miao Zhang Points the Way  

The Seduction of Words

"I shall repeat a hundred times: we really ought to free ourselves from the seduction of words."
- Frederick Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, #16, 1886

Nietzsche can seduce you with words ... so beware.


"A very popular error: having the courage of one's convictions; rather, it is a matter of having the courage for an attack on one's convictions!!!"
- Frederick Nietzsche, Werke, XVI, p. 318.

In 2016, I have been quite consistently reading and studying the life, works, and philosophy of Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900). My hypertext notebook about Nietzsche includes some of my research and many quotations from Nietzsche. I first read Nietzsche in 1964, and since then many times in the past decades. Surprisingly, I don't remember my philosophy teachers (1962-1966) talking much about Nietzsche.


I share most of Nietzsche's views on Judeo-Christian-Moslem beliefs and practices.

I am currently reading:

Nietzsche: A Philosophical Biography. By Rüdiger Safranski. Translated by Shelley Frisch. W.W. Norton and Co., Reprint Edition, 2003. Index, 416 pages. ISBN: 978-0393323801. VSCL.

Basic Writings of Nietzsche. By Friedrich Nietzsche. Translated and Edited, with Commentaries by Walter Kaufmann. New York, Modern Library, 1966, 1968. Indexes pp 804-845, 845 pages. ISBN: B00E28VDX0 for the 1996 Edition, with and introduction by Peter Gay. I use the 1968 version. This text includes: The Birth of Tragedy, Beyond Good and Evil, On the Genealogy of Morals, The Case of Wagner, Ecce Homo, and Aphorisms. Each book has an introduction. Includes biographical notes. Separate indexes for each book. I use a Modern Library hardbound 1968 version of this work, and the very inexpensive Kindle E-book version, VSCL.

Nietzsche: The Man and his Philosophy. By R. J. Hollingdale. Cambridge University Press, 2nd Edition, 2001. 288 pages. ISBN: 9780521002950. VSCL. 

Flee Into Concealment

"Rather, go away, Flee into concealment. And have your masks and subtlety, that you may be mistaken for what you are not, or feared a little. And don't forget the garden, the garden with golden trelliswork. And have people around you who are as a garden──or as music on the waters in the evening, when the day is turning into memories. Choose the good solitude, the free, playful, light solitude that gives you, too, the right to remain good in some sense."
- Frederick Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, #25, 1886

"Solitude, though it may be silent as light, is like light, the mightiest of agencies; for solitude is essential to man. All men come into this world alone and leave it alone."
- Thomas De Quincey 

"Seek silence.
Gladden in silence.
Adore silence.

As one progresses on the path, one seeks silence more and more.
It will be a great comfort, a tremendous source of solace and peace.

Once you find deep solitude and calm, there will be a great gladness in your heart.
Here finally is the place where you need neither defense nor offense -- the place where you can truly be open.
There will be bliss, wonder, the awe of attaining something pure and sacred.

After that, you will feel adoration of silence.
This is the peace that seems to elude so many.
This is the beauty of Tao."
- Deng Ming-Dao, 365 Tao Daily Meditations 

Solitude: Quotations, Sayings, Poems

Buddhist Books

On February 13, 2016, I gave all the books in my home about Buddhism to the Sky Creek Dharma Center in Chico, California.  

The Sky Creek director, Bob Speer, came out to my home in his truck and picked up six boxes of Buddhist books and one walnut wood shelf.  

I hope the books benefit members of the Sky Creek Dharma Center.

February Garden Chores

February Gardening Chores
Red Bluff, North Sacramento Valley, California, USA
USDA Zone 9

Typical Seasonal Weather for Our Area, USDA Zone 9 Normally, in February, we have high daytime temperatures of 59ºF, low nighttime temperatures of 40ºF, and get 3.4 inches of rain.

Red Bluff Gardening Notebooks of Karen and Mike Garofalo

Cloud Hands Blog Follow the seasons in the Northern California garden of Karen and Mike with their notes, links, resources, quotes, poems, and photos.

February Garden Activities and Chores in Red Bluff
USDA Zone 9

Browsing and ordering from seed and garden catalogs.
Pruning leafless trees and shrubs.
Weeding and tending the winter vegetable garden.
Relax and read books.  
The soil is usually too wet and cold for much digging.
Keeping cold sensitive potted plants in protected areas or indoors.
Make sure that the cuttings in protected areas do not dry out.
Repair fences.
Put straw mulch over fertilized vegetable garden areas not planted.
Distribute fertilizer and minerals.
Prune and mulch dormant perennials.
Remove dead trees, shrubs, branches, and twigs.
Enjoy the bulbs and rosemary in bloom.
Repair and sharpen tools.
Construct gardening boxes and flats.
Write a poem. Keep a gardening journal.
Fertilize with 20-9-9 or 15-15-15.
Trees without leaves need little or no watering.
Take a walk in your garden.
Sit and observe.
Burn piles of gardening cuttings saved since last February.

Here are some recent photographs of our yard and gardens in February:

Winter in the Valley

February brought more needed rain and snow.  Heavy rain in the local mountains, with snow above 4,500 feet.  It will be dray and warm all this coming week.      

“There is a privacy about winter which no other season gives you …..
In spring, summer and fall people sort of have an open season on each
other; only in the winter, in the country, can you have longer, quiet
stretches when you can savor belonging to yourself.”
- Ruth Stout




At the end of the culdesac lane that I walk on, I come to Highway 99 West (shown above). This portion of Hwy 99 was constructed in 1926, mostly right along the side of the Union Pacific railroad tracks that go back to 1870. Highway 99 is a major highway in the far western U.S., from San Diego to Seattle.  Interstate 5 replaced Highway 99 in the 1960's. 


 
The nearby Shasta Yolla Bolly mountains, and the Trinity Alps behind them, to the north west of our home in Red Bluff, sometimes get snow down to 3,000 feet (shown above). We rarely get any snow in the valley where I live.


 
The many nearby almond orchards are in full bloom in February. 


The prune plum orchards have yet to flower.
 

"Timeless thoughts of a winter’s stare;
eyes gazing over a landscape bare.
Memories drift on a blustery breeze;
dying light ushers in the freeze.
Reaching out for a grasp on the present;
stillness sets in, alone, and desolate.
Future unknown, outcome uncertain;
brilliance shadowed by a drawn curtain.
Path now set, laid before me known;
closing light now emanating from home.
Enter my homestead, heart filled with glee;
two eyes of the future peering upward at me.
Trusting in him to forge forward until fulfilled;
Basis of strength, values I have instilled.
A wary mind at last permitted to rest;
reflecting on the realization of how I am blessed.
-  Michael A. Barron, Winter's Epiphany    

 

"Winter is the time for comfort - it is the time for home."
-  Edith Sitwell

Yoga Classes in Red Bluff, CA, Instructor: Mike Garofalo

I teach yoga classes at the Tehama Family Fitness Center, a large fitness facility just north of the Dignity Health Hospital (St. Elizabeths), in Red Bluff.  

I have taught yoga, qigong, and tai chi Chuan in Red Bluff since 2000.  Here are my qualifications.  

I teach the Yoga and Qigong class on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Information about my Yoga Classes

Valley Spirit Yoga

Qigong (Chi Kung): Chinese Yoga



These three classes feature an eclectic blend of Hatha Yoga, Vinyasa Yoga, and Chinese Chi Kung Yoga.  All these Internal Arts Exercise methods emphasize flexibility, full range of motion, staying grounded and balanced, cultivating inner mental and physical energies, coordinated breathing patterns, a calm composure, concentration, and will power.  Hatha style Yoga includes many strength building postures, balancing exercises, both dynamic and longer static stretching postures, inversions, Warrior poses, standing and mat work, prop usage, and mental improvement recommendations.  Vinyasa style (Flow Style, Astanga, Power) Yoga emphasizes longer flowing movement sequences, dynamic stretching exercises, clear intentions, set routines, vigorous exercises, and sweating.  Chi Kung (Qigong, Dao Yin, Tai Chi) includes gentle and graceful flowing exercises and standing dynamic stretching exercises, energy (Chi or Qi) work, Taoist longevity practices, martial applications, and traditional exercise routines like the Animal Frolics, Brocades, or Dragons.  We will also introduce participants to numerous ideas and techniques for reducing stress, lifting one’s mood, improving concentration, enjoying the moment, cultivating kindness and beauty, thinking clearly, contentment, tranquility, and exploring the integration of minds and bodies.  Relatively fit persons of all ages are welcome, and alternative and safe postures will be taught.  Are you interested in a lifetime exercise system that is good for your body, fun, lifts your spirits, creates more energy in you, contributes to longevity, and expands your mind?  Try Yoga with Mike!  Bring your best efforts and encourage others.

The Beauty of the Trees Speaks to Me

"This is the realm of true reality where you forget what is on your mind and stop looking.  In a wild field, not choosing, picking up whatever comes to hand, the obvious meaning of Zen is clear in the hundred grasses.  Indeed, the green bamboo, the clusters of yellow flowers, fences, walls, tiles, and pebble us the teaching of the inanimate; rivers, birds, trees, and groves expound suffering, emptiness, and selflessness.  This is based on the one true reality, producing unconditional compassion, manifesting uncontrived, supremely wondrous power in the great jewel light of nirvana.

An ancient master said, "Meeting a companion on the Way, spending a life together, the whole task of study is done."  Another master said, "If I pick up a single leaf and go into the city, I move the whole of the mountain."  That is why one ancient adept was enlightened on hearing the sound of pebbles striking bamboo, while another was awakened on seeing peach trees in bloom.  An ancient worthy, working in the fields in his youth , was breaking up clumps of earth when he saw a big clod, which he playfully smashed with a fierce blow; as it shattered, he was suddenly greatly enlightened.  One Zen master attained enlightenment on seeing the flagpole of a teaching center from the other side of a river.  Another spoke of the staff of the spirit.  One adept illustrated Zen realization by planting a hoe in the ground; another master spoke of Zen in term of sowing the fields.  All of these instances were bringing out this indestructible true being, allowing people to visit a greatly liberated true teacher without moving a step.

Carrying out the unspoken teaching, attaining unhindered eloquence, thus they forever studied all over from all things, embracing the all-inclusive universe, detaching from both abstract and concrete definitions of buddhahood, and transcendentally realizing universal, all pervasive Zen in the midst of all activities.  Why necessarily consider holy places, teachers' abodes, or religious organizations and forms prerequisite to personal familiarity and attainment of realization?"

-  Yuan-Wu, The House of Lin-Chi, "The Five Houses of Zen," translated by Thomas Cleary, Shambhala Press, 1997, p. 58.  


"I did however used to think, you know, in the woods walking, and as a kid playing the the woods, that there was a kind of immanence there - that woods, a places of that order, had a sense, a kind of presence, that you could feel; that there was something peculiarly, physically present, a feeling of place almost conscious ... like God.  It evoked that."
-  Robert Creely, Robert Creely and the Genius of the American Common Place, p. 40   


"The beauty of the trees,
the softness of the air,
the fragrance of the grass,
speaks to me.
The summit of the mountain,
the thunder of the sky,
speaks to me.
The faintness of the stars,
the trail of the sun,
the strength of fire,
and the life that never goes away,
they speak to me.
And my heart soars."
-  Chief Dan George  


Zen Poetry

Buddhism

Haiku Poetry

Gardening and Spirituality

Trees

Walking: The First Meditation

"Walking is the great adventure, the first meditation,
a practice of heartiness and soul primary to humankind.
Walking is the exact balance between spirit and humility."
- Gary Snyder, The Practice of the Wild

"My father considered a walk among the mountains as the equivalent of churchgoing."
- Aldous Huxley

Walking Website

Day Hikes in Oregon 

Meditation

Walking Meditation

Day Hiking in Oregon

Day Hiking in California, Oregon and Washington
A hypertext notebook by Mike Garofalo.

Our next camping and day hiking trip in March will be to Nehalem Bay State Park in Oregon. We are staying in a yurt at the park. I plan to take long walks on the beaches, and hike up Neahkahnie Mountain.

My favorite travel guides to the Oregon coast are:

Day Hiking the Oregon Coast: Beaches, Headlands, Coastal Trail. By Bonnie Henderson. Seattle, Washington, Mountaineers Books, 2nd Edition, 2015. Index, 285 pages. ISBN: 9781594859090. VSCL.

Coastal Oregon. By W. C. McRae and Judy Jewell. A Moon Handbook. Avalon Travel Pub., 6th Edition, 2016. Index, appendices, 260 pages. ISBN: 1631212524. I use the 3rd Edition. VSCL. 

The photograph below was taken from the top of Neahkahnie Mountain, looking south. In the middle left is Nehalem Bay. We have gone crabbing in Nehalem Bay.   

Celebration in Honor of Epicurus

On February 4th we honor the memory of Epicurus (341-270 BCE), the founder (Hegemon) of the school of philosophy in Athens, Greece, that we now call "Epicureanism."  His school was called "The Garden" (Ho Kepos).

His followers celebrated together in his honor on the 10th of Gamelion.  Gamelion was a lunar period of the Attic Calendar used by the ancient Athenian Greeks. Gamelion was the period in January or February, each Winter, occurring  after a full moon.  Consequently, the celebration of the life and philosophy of Epicurus was a movable feast.  Vincent Cook reports that Epicurus was born on February 4th.

I am content to use February 4th for the purpose of honoring the memory of Epicurus.  Friends of Epicurus, please celebrate and enjoy yourself today.  Epicurus would have encouraged us to: enjoy wholesome pleasures, be cheerful, have peace of mind (ataraxia), be uplifted by our decent friendships, practice kind speech (suavity), find beauty and factuality in the natural world, respect our bodies and our senses, flourish as human beings (eudaimonia), cultivate wisdom through good conversation, reasoning and reading, and let go of superstitious and false beliefs.  We tip our hats to the founder and master! 

Recommended Reading about Epicureanism and Epicurus

Virtue Ethics

A Philosopher's Notebooks


“Let no one be slow to seek wisdom when he is young nor weary in the search of it when he has grown old. For no age is too early or too late for the health of the soul. And to say that the season for studying philosophy has not yet come, or that it is past and gone, is like saying that the season for happiness is not yet or that it is now no more. Therefore, both old and young alike ought to seek wisdom, the former in order that, as age comes over him, he may be young in good things because of the grace of what has been, and the latter in order that, while he is young, he may at the same time be old, because he has no fear of the things which are to come. So we must exercise ourselves in the things which bring happiness, since, if that be present, we have everything, and, if that be absent, all our actions are directed towards attaining it.” 
-  Epicurus, Letter to Menoeceus

Plans for 2016

Reassess the value and benefits, for others and for myself, of my blogging, and my webpage development and maintenance projects.  

Accomplish many home improvements, refurbishments, painting, and clean up projects.

Complete my normal daily exercise and fitness routines.

Work diligently to reduce my A1C blood sugar test results to under 6.5, and my body weight down to 240 pounds.  Effectively manage my eating of nutritious foods, carefully use my diabetic medicines, exercise, reduce stress, and get adequate rest to slow the deterioration progress of my Type 2 Diabetes.

Complete 9 months of my last 18 months of part-time elementary school district work before my retirement in December of 2017.

Do what I can to help make for a peaceful, productive, prosperous, beneficial, and healthy community.

Discontinue activities that are not supportive and aligned with my preferences and goals.

Weed my used book collection.

Enjoy more frequent camping and day hiking adventures in coastal Oregon and California.  



The Cloud Hands Blog has been in existence since 2005.  I have posted 2,193 times to this blog.  There have been 635,000 Page Views of this blog.  Many positive reviews and some awards have been given to this blog.  The right hand column of this blog provides extensive subject access to my hundreds of webpages and blog postings.  There is plenty of content still available on this blog and my webpages that readers might find useful.  Enjoy! 



If you don't set objectives, goals, intentions, resolutions, or aims, then it is far less likely that you will accomplish any of those objectives.  With no target to shoot at, how do you aim?  Use your energy, your thinking, and your will to prioritize, focus, and accomplish the most important objectives.


Simplicity Quotations

Simple Living Manifesto: 72 Ideas to Simplify Your Life

How to Live a Good Life: Advice from Wise Persons