December
   2006   

Mike Garofalo in the San Ti Shi Posture
for Standing Meditation

Valley Spirit   
Author  
Contact 
Home  
Purpose   
Archives  
Green Way Blog 
Valley Spirit Center    
Cloud Hands Blog   
Valley Spirit Journal   
          
   

Websites
Spirit of Gardening 
Cloud Hands 
Cuttings: Haiku Poetry  
Green Way Research   
Zen Poetry 
    

     

December 1,  Friday,  2006

Review Goals, Accomplish Objectives, and Manage Progress:
THE LIST OF Mike Garofalo: 11 Things to Do in 1,001 Days. 

Categories   
Search  
Archives   
Blogs     
Gardening  
T'ai Chi Ch'uan  
Qigong  
Indexes  
Photography   
Biographies  
General   
Months  
Mysticism  
Webmaster   
Mike Garofalo  
 
   

   
  

December 2,  Saturday,  2006

Walking and Taijiquan in the morning.

Practice Yang Long 108 Third Section.  Review Videotape. 

Teach Tai Chi Chuan and Yoga at TFFC in the morning. 

Watched the USC vs UCLA game on television at 1:30 pm.  UCLA, a two touchdown underdog, upsetted #2 ranked USC, 13-9.  The stout and speedy UCLA defense shut down the previous successful USC offense that had averaged 32 points a game.  If USC had won it would have be playing Ohio State for the college football championship for the four year in a row.  USC ends the season at 10-2 and will be playing in the BCS game in the Rose Bowl.  It lost to Oregon State in October by two points and to UCLA in December by 4 points.  A fine year for the USC Trojans, but a disappointing game against UCLA.  

Purchase posts at Home Depot, purchase plants a Kathy's. 

"The secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all
the details of daily life, and in elevating them to art."
-  William Morris

MP3 get:

Ghostbusters
Pain by Three xyz

T'ai Chi Ch'uan  
Yang Style  
Sun Style  
Sword  
Staff  
Saber 
Cloud Hands 
Valley Spirit Center  
Qigong 
Links  
Chen Style   
Bagua  
Yang 24  
Sun 73 
Cloud Hands Blog   
Bibliography  
 

December 3,  Sunday,  2006

Walking and Taijiquan in the early morning.

Clean up and rearrange garage. 

Put up Yule/Christmas tree and all Yule/Christmas decorations.   

KS 4 pm - 9 pm. 

Physical and Psychological Benefits of Meditation
http://yoga.am/2006/10/09/physical-benefits-of-meditation/

http://yoga.am/2006/09/20/care-to-be-taken-while-doing-yoga/

December 4,  Monday,  2006

Continue cleaning up garage. 

Finish TCCA minutes and agenda to mail out on Saturday morning. 

Visit Dr. Young, Dentist. 

TFFC:  Weightlifting, then teach 30 minute spin class. 

KS: 1 hour in am. 

Online English versions

• Tao Te Ching, James Legge
• Tao Te Ching, John H. McDonald
• Tao Te Ching, Stephen Mitchell
• Daode jing, Charles Muller
• Lao Tsu's Tao Te Ching Online, Elyxr
• Tao Te Ching, Derek Lin
• Tao Te Ching, Stan Rosenthal
• Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu, 3 translations: James Legge, D.T. Suzuki, and Dwight Goddard
• Dao De Jing (Way Power Book) by Lao-zi, Sanderson Beck
• Tao Te Ching – The Way of Life, Raymond B. Blakney
• The Daode Jing (Tao Te Ching) of Laozi (Lao Tzu), Chad Hansen
• The Dynamic Tao and Its Manifestation. Wayne L. Wang
• The Tao Te Ching, Frederic H. Balfour
• The Tao Te Ching, Ron Hogan (available in several formats, including iPod)
• The Tao Te Ching, Lin Yutang
• The Tao Te Ching, Stan Rosenthal
• Tao Te Ching audio edition, narrated by Michael Scott
• The Tao Teh King, Aleister Crowley
• Jade Purity: Dao De Jing, Siji Tzu (highly interpretive rather than literal)
• Lao Tze - TaoDeChing, Peter A. Merel (interpolation)
• Tao (The Way), Ron Hogan
• My Dao De Jing, Nina Correa
• Lao-Tzu's Tao, Plain English Adaptation, Universal Dialectic Institute (chapters 1-37)
• The Flow and the Power of Good, Sonja Elen Kisa (9 chapters)

道德經

Tao Te Ching

道德经

"Tai chi existing without its philosophical foundation would become a hollow form of adult exercise, lacking not only the profundity of the art but its great health and martial arts benefits as well."
- Wolfe Lowenthal

Definitons provided by Roger T. Ames and David L. Hall in <span style="font-style:italic;">Daodejin "Making Life Significant": A Philosophical Translation</span> (2003), p. 67:

<span style="font-style:italic;">wuming</span>: Naming without fixed reference.

<span style="font-style:italic;">wushi</span>: To be non-interfering in going about <span style="font-style:italic;">your business.

wuwei</span>: Noncoercive action that is in accordance with the <span style="font-style:italic;">de</span> of things.

<span style="font-style:italic;">wuyu</span>: Objectless desire.

<span style="font-style:italic;">wuzheng</span>: Striving without contentiousness.

<span style="font-style:italic;">wuzhi</span>: Unprincipled knowing.

 

June 2007
May 2007
April 2007 
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007 
December 2006   
November 2006 
October 2006 
September 2006 
August 2006
July 2006  
June 2006   
May 2006    
April 2006    
March 2006    
February 2006    
January 2006   
December 2005     
November 2005  
October 2005  
September 2005   
August 2005  
July 2005   
June 2005   
May 2005   
April 2005  
March 2005  
February 2005   
2005   
2004   
2003 
Index 

December 5,  Tuesday,  2006

Work for CUESD from 7:30 to 4 pm.  Teach GATE class from 2:30 - 4 to 4th and 5th graders. 

TFFC:  Weightlifting and then teach a 75 minute yoga class.  

The Mission:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).

Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple goals such as new year's resolutions. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organising and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.

Some common goal setting tips:
1. Be decisive. Know exactly what you want, why you want it, and how you plan to achieve it.

2. Stay Focussed. Any goal requires sustained focus from beginning to end. Constantly evaluate your progress.

3. Welcome Failure. Frequently, very little is learned from a venture that did not experience failure in some form. Failure presents the opportunity to learn and makes the success more worthy.

4. Write down your goals. It clarifies your thinking and reinforces your commitment.

5. Keep your goals in sight. Review them frequently, and ensure that they are always at the forefront of your thinking.

Source: http://www.triplux.com/1001/otherlists.asp

Review Goals, Accomplish Objectives, and Manage Progress:
THE LIST OF MIKE GAROFALO: 101 Things to Do in 1001 Days. 

December 6,  Wednesday,  2006

Work for CUESD from 7:30 to 4 pm.

TFFC:  Weightlifting and then teach a 45 minute power yoga class.  

Inwardly alert, open, calm.
Outwardly upright, extended, filled with spirit.
This is the foundation of stillness.
Add the hard and the soft, the powerful and the relaxed,
Motion and stillness, contraction and extension:
In the instant these converge, there is power.

Wang Xiang Zhai

The Way of Power by Lam Kam Chuen
ISBN 1856751988
 

Biographies    

Reginald H. Blyth  
Han Shan
Sun Lu-Tang  
Chang San-Feng  
   

December 7,  Thursday,  2006

Work for CUESD from 7:30 to 4 pm.  Teach GATE class from 2:30 - 4 to 4th and 5th graders. 

TFFC:  Weightlifting and then teach a 75 minute yoga class.  

The reason a dog has so many friends is that he wags his tail instead of
his tongue.
-Anonymous

Don't  accept your dog's admiration as conclusive evidence that you are
won derful.
-Ann  Landers

If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they
went.
-Will  Rogers

There is  no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your  face.
-Ben  Williams

A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves
himself.
-Josh  Billings

The  average dog is a nicer person than the average  person.
-Andy  Rooney

We give dogs time we can spare, space we can spare and love we can
spare.

And in return, dogs give us their all. It's the best deal man
has ever made.
-M.  Acklam

Dogs love their friends and bite their enemies, quite unlike
people,
who are incapable of pure love and always have to mix love and
hate.
-Sigmund  Freud

I  wonder if other dogs think poodles are members of a weird
religious cult.
-Rita  Rudner

A dog teaches a boy fidelity, perseverance, and to turn around
three

times before lying down.
-Robert  Benchley

Anybody who doesn't know what soap tastes like never washed a
dog.
-Franklin  P. Jones

If I have any beliefs about immortality, it is that certain dogs
I have

known will go  to heaven, and very, very few persons.
-James  Thurber

If  your dog is fat, you aren't getting enough  exercise
-Unknown

My dog is worried about the economy because Alpo is up to  $3.00
a can.

That's  almost $21.00 in dog money.
-Joe  Weinstein

Ever consider what our dogs must think of us? I mean, here we
come from

a grocery with the most amazing haul, chicken, pork, half a cow.
They must

think we're the greatest hunters on earth!
-Anne  Tyler

Women  and cats will do as they please, and men  and dogs should
relax and get used to the idea.
-Robert A.  Heinlein

If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will
not bite you; that is the

principal difference between a dog and a man.
-Mark  Twain

You  can say any foolish thing to a dog, and the dog will give
you a look  that says,
'Wow,  you're right! I never would've thought of  that!'
- Dave  Barry

Dogs  are not our whole life, but they make our lives  whole.
-Roger  Caras

If you think dogs can't count, try putting three dog biscuits in
your pocket and then

give him only two of them.
-Phil  Pastoret

My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog thinks I
am.



"One of the hardest things in life to learn is which bridge to
cross and which bridge to burn"
 

December 8,  Friday,  2006

Shop at Home Depot and then work around the house on projects and chores all day. 

"Everyone in their rooms
with time to be carried to their own places,
watching, listening, reading
the book of ourselves
like a story that never starts,
a tale of the end of the day,
a beginning, a dance
to keep the night
and remember."
- Jill Chan, Reflections from Navel Orange
http://navelorange.blogspot.com/

Dragging ourselves out of bed
hours ahead in our heads;
grumbling, stiff, shaky;
peeing as we unpeel our eyes,
cold feet on the floor.
A story that stopped for someone;
but for everyone else ... often but
a dull drama replayed at daybreak.
Ordinary day redux.
Yawning ...
-  Mike Garofalo, Cuttings - December

http://www.gardendigest.com/poetry/hapaut3.htm

Very tired this morning. 

Karen ill. 

Teach Tai Chi Chuan (60 minutes) and Yoga (75 minutes) at TFFC. 

Chores around the house. 

Attend TFFC party from 7-9 pm. 

Light rain during this cool day.

Karen sick with the stomach flu yesterday and today.

Walking and taijiquan around 10 am.

I was able to get back online for the first time since last Sunday. 

Put up lights outside and painted the walls and shelving in the garage. 

Developed the Tai Chi Sword 32 Form webpage. 

"Greetings

I've enjoyed visiting your website, appreciate the bibliographical
nature of it which makes it a fertile place to spend time with.

I have not seen this on your site, but wondered if you could recommend
another web resource that might list the Yang-Dong style Fast Set
sequence of movements? I do currently study in Sonoma County and my
lineage is related through Master Tung Kai Ying. I find that there
seems to be a few alternate names for some of the sequences and as it
is not always possible to ask the teacher thought perhaps you might be
able to provide for me a recommendation... I've done general searching,
i.e. googling without much success in actually finding the names of
each movement

Thank you for your work
Catherine"

 

"Those who bring light and love to others cannot keep it from themselves."
-  Sir James Barrie

Reflection: Take a Mindful Walk

 

Yoga Journal

http://www.yogajournal.com:80/meditation/773_1.cfm?ctsrc=waterfrontmedia

By John Cianciosi

Walking and Taijiquan in the morning.  I really did a lot of kickboxing and punching. 

Work for CUESD from 10 - 1 pm.

Karen very sick again today. 

Attend Tehama County Commission on Aging in Corning from 2-4 pm.

TFFC:  Weightlifting, Teach spin class for 30 minutes, attend cardio kickboxing class for 25 minutes. 

Beginning Foil Fencing  NEW CLASS

Learn the Olympic sport of Fencing! You will learn to incorporate footwork, bladework, timing and strategy in this challenging and rewarding recreation. Often called “physical chess”, fencing is an individual sport that allows participation by men and women at many levels. The fee includes use of equipment and one month’s free membership in the Redding Anderson Duellists Fencing club. For more information call 357-5030.

Eight Tuesdays, 9/26 - 11/14

6pm - 8pm
Location: Anderson VFW Hall (next to the Library)
Class limit: 10

Presenter: John Martin Streeby
Code: 3302.301

$60

Work for CUESD from 7:30 - 4 pm.

TFFC: Weightlifting (Heavy Incline squats and bench presses) and then teach yoga for 75 minutes.

When I have the time to take a walk, I would often take the time to admire
the grass.   Grass doesn't make a fuss.  It doesn't try to be beautiful or
outstanding.  It doesn't want to attract attention.  It is so humble that it
even allows people to walk all over it.  Yet, it possess such strength.
It glows in healthy green despite being stepped all over, and when a
typhoon strikes and all the flowers die and all the trees get uprooted,
humble grass survives.  And humble grass, in its own humble way,
provides food for animals, shelter for insects, and joy to some funny
guy walking past.  I think a virtuous man should be like grass.
Humble, unnoticed, yet possessing great strength and kindness.
-  Tan Chade Meng

Up at 3:30 am: writing, working on songs from/for Tonya. 

Work for CUESD from 7:30 - 4 pm.

TFFC:  Weightlifting (bent rows with waist supported, shoulder shrugs with dumbells), and then teach power yoga for 45 minutes.  I need to drink more water each day.   

http://singaporecommunitycats.wordpress.com/2006/12/07/cat-walk-benefits/

Late Grandmaster Yang Cheng Fu described in his book, “The Practice of Taijiquan”, that “the two legs be differentiated into yin and yang, and should raise and lower as if walking like a cat”.

The Taiji Classics state that “if the hands advance three percent, then the legs advance seven percent”. This demonstrates the importance of stance work and stepping in Taijiquan. There is also a saying which says that if one can perform a proper “Taiji Cat Walk”, it does not necessarily mean one’s Taijiquan is good, but in order to be very good at Taijiquan, one must have a proper “Taiji Cat Walk”. The legs move slowly and evenly under the control of the waist and spine while performing the “Taiji Cat Walk”. Close to half of the largest muscles groups found within the body are below the waist and abdomen. The “Taiji Cat Walk” will allow all the muscles, ligaments, joints, etc. to obtain maximum range of exercise with the least amount of resistance. The action which occurs in the legs is similar to the motion of twisting (draining) a wet towel. All of the fibers within the towel (legs) will receive varying degrees of twisting and pressure.


Tai Chi Chuan Journal, Volume 4, Number 3, Summer 2003, "Walk Like a Cat" by Greta Hill.
 

"Do things noncoercively (wuwei),
Be non-interfering in going about your business (wushi),
And savor the flavor of the unadulterated in what you eat.

Treat the small as great
and the few as many.

Requite enmity with character (de).

Take account of the difficult while it is still easy,
And deal with the large white it is still tiny.  
The most difficult things in the world originate with the easy,
And the largest issues originate with the tiny.

Thus, it is because the sages never try to do great things
That they are indeed able to be great.

One who makes promises lightly is sure to have little credibility;
One who finds everything easy is certain to have lots of difficulties.

Thus, it is because even the sages pay careful attention to such things
That they are always free of difficulties.

Chapter 63, Daodejing
Translation by Roger T. Ames and David L. Hall in <span style="font-style:italic;">Daodejing "Making Life Significant": A Philosophical Translation</span> (2003), p. 175.

Classics - Ancient Wisdom for Making This Life Significant

Compiled by Mike Garofalo

Work for CUESD from 7:30 - 4 pm.  Treat the media/technology services staff to at Casa Ramos and
then a short in-service meeting at Woodson School. 

TFFC: Weightlifting and then teach yoga for 75 minutes.

"Flinging open the front door I strode purposefully down the walk stopping every few steps to perform a little Tai Chi. Tiger Crane paper fetching. I have found that this sort of behavior keeps the neighbors at bay. I’m trying to cultivate a little je ne sais quoi and I think I’m succeeding."
-  Bill, Sugar Land, Texas

HooYa!  Way to go Bill.  Timing is Everything. 

http://12tutufondue.blogspot.com/2006/12/timing-is-everything.html

je ne sais quoi:  'I do not know what'; indescribable attractive attribute or quality; 'a certain something'. 

Pink Thunder's Tai Chi Sword Update
http://www.pinkthunder.com/pinkthunder/tai_chi_sword/index.html

Stickman's Escrima Blog by Jeff Finder, El Sobrante, California

http://escrima.blogspot.com/

Escrima is a little known yet amazing Filipino martial art: beautifully efficient, wonderfully versatile, fun! It looks complex to the untrained eye, but it is easily understood, its intricacies revealed in simplicity. While it can be learned faster than almost any other martial art, it has depths that take a lifetime to master. From sparring with weapons to disarms and flowing sequential joint locks, there is always a challenge for both body and mind, a bit like chess with adrenaline. The flashing weaponry appears frighteningly dangerous, but the art is taught in a precise and methodical manner, and in fact there are fewer injuries practicing with sticks than most empty-handed arts. After all, the weapons block each other, as opposed to bruising body-to-body contact. This is a great art to grow old with, because it can be gentle for solo practice, invigorating with a partner, and effective self-defense against opponents who may be younger, faster or in greater numbers. For the same reasons, this is an art that can benefit women as well. This blog is for thoughts about training. Maybe it will be of interest to other martial artists as well.

On the Edge Blog by Kelly S. Worden

http://wordenreality.blogspot.com/

Simlified Tai Chi Sword

http://xingyi.seesaa.net/article/24563245.html

Walking and Taijiquan in the morning. 

Painting in the garage.  Work on chores and projects around the house.

Shopping in Redding.  

Scrub Jay in a hedge of California Live Oak trees in our front yard. 

Rufus Sided Tohee in a hedge of California Live Oak trees in our front yard. 

TFFC: Weightlifting in afternoon:  Incline squats 270 lbs as many sets as I can do, Bench Press climb up the ladder to 220 libs. 

"Just like everybody else, we pagans live ordinary lives .... [W]e know with a heart-thumping certainty that the ordinary is as sacred as anything any sage ever set apart as holy or divine.” - Barbara Ardinger, "Pagan Every Day"

"Though law, scripture, priest and prayer have all instructed me, my skin, my bones, my heretic heart are my authority." - from the pagan song "The Heretic Heart" by Catherine Madsen

Heretic Heart
By Catherine Madsen

I am a bold and a Pagan soul,
A-ramblin' through this land,
I judge the world by my own lights,
And I come by my own hand,
And if you ask me where I learned,
To live so recklessly
My skin, my bones, my
Heretic heart,
Are my authority.

My mother was a singer of tales,
My father a dreaming man,
And I have swung from the dragon's tongue
And danced on Holy Land,
I've sung the seed up out of the ground,
And the bird down from the tree
My skin, my bones, my
Heretic heart
Are my authority.

I once was found but now I'm gone,
Away from the "Faithful Fold",
Of those who preach that holiness,
Is to do as you are told,
Though law and scripture, priest and prayer,
Have all instructed me
My skin, my bones, my
Heretic heart
Are my authority.

Now they tell me Jesus loves me,
But I think that he loves in vain,
He must go unrequited,
On me he has no claim,
For the man who would command me must wear the horn and let me be.
My Goddess is the Lady Moon,
Whose tides run deep in me
My skin, my bones, my
Heretic heart
Are my authority.

And while I breathe this glorious air,
An outlaw I'll remain,
My body will not be subdued,
And I will not be "saved,"
And if I cannot shout it loud, I'll sing it secretly
My skin, my bones, my
Heretic heart
Are my authority.

"In the end, our society will be defined not only by what we create but by what we refuse to destroy." John Sawhill

Lion Grove Garden
http://www.terebess.hu/kert/magankert/garden2.html

I teach my poetry students to write often. It's like a singer staying in voice. If you write often you will be prepared to erect the form, the fountain that holds the water of inspiration. If unprepared, it is unlikely you will be able to do the inspiration justice. Also, what feels inspired during the process you may later find was actually plebeian, because to write at all you must suspend judgment during the process or you freeze up.
-  C. E. Chaffin

TFFC:  Teach Tai Chi Chuan Yang 3rd Section to 7 students.  For the first time this year, only two students
showed up for the yoga class.  TFFC management requires 3 students to hold a class.   

Karen and I enjoyed a Subway sandwich for lunch.  I took a nap in the afternoon.   

CUESD staff party at Steve and Cindy Kelish's Home in Corning

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree!
How are thy leaves so verdant!
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
How are thy leaves so verdant!

Not only in the summertime,
But even in winter is thy prime.

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
How are thy leaves so verdant!
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Much pleasure doth thou bring me!

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Much pleasure doth thou bring me!
For every year the Christmas tree,
Brings to us all both joy and glee.

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Much pleasure doth thou bring me!

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Thy candles shine out brightly!

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Thy candles shine out brightly!
Each bough doth hold its tiny light,
That makes each toy to sparkle bright.

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Thy candles shine out brightly!

O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum,
Wie treu sind deine Blätter.
O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum,
Wie treu sind deine Blätter.
Du grünst nicht nur zur Sommerzeit,
Nein auch im Winter, wenn es schneit.
O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum,
Wie treu sind deine Blätter.

O Christmas Tree O, Christmas Tree,
Your branches green delight us.
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree,
Your branches green delight us.
They're green when summer days are bright;
They're green when winter snow is white.
O, Christmas Tree, O, Christmas Tree,
Your branches green delight us!

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree,
You give us so much pleasure!
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree,
You give us so much pleasure!
How oft at Christmas tide the sight,
O green fir tree, gives us dlight!
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree,
You give us so much pleasure!

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree,
Your branches green delight us.
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree,
Your branches green delight us.
They're green when summer days are bright;
They're green when winter snow is white.
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree,
Your branches green delight us!

O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum,
Wie grün sind deine Blätter!
Du grünst nicht nur zur Sommerzeit,
Nein auch im Winter, wenn es schneit.
O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum,
Wie grün sind deine Blätter!

O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum,
Du kannst mir sehr gefallen!
Wie oft hat schon zur Winterszeit
Ein Baum von dir mich hoch erfreut!
O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum,
Du kannst mir sehr gefallen!

O Tannenbaum, or, in its English version, "O Christmas Tree" is a Christmas carol of German origin.

A Tannenbaum is a fir tree (German die Tanne) or Christmas tree (der Weihnachtsbaum). Its evergreen qualities have long inspired musicians to write several "Tannenbaum" songs in German.

The best known version was penned in 1824 by a Leipzig organist and teacher named Ernst Anschütz. The melody is an old folk tune. The first known "Tannenbaum" song lyrics date back to 1550. A similar 1615 song by Melchior Franck (1573-1639) goes:

Ach Tannenbaum, ach Tannenbaum, du bist ein edler Zweig! Du grünest uns den Winter, die liebe Sommerzeit.

The tune is also used as the melody of the British Labour Party song, The Red Flag, the Cornell University "Evening Song", and Maryland's official state song, Maryland, My Maryland and also as the national anthem of Canada O Canada.

Wikipedia - O Tannenbaum

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Tannenbaum

Walking and Taijiquan in the morning. 

Work on chores and projects around the house.

TFFC: Weightlifting (Incline squats, bench press, heavy dumbell shrugs). 

KS Play for 5 hours.   

Attributed to Wang Tsung-yueh [Wang Zongyue] (18th Century)
as researched by Lee N. Scheele

T’ai Chi [Supreme Ultimate] comes from Wu Chi [Formless Void]
and is the mother of yin and yang.
In motion T’ai Chi separates;
in stillness yin and yang fuse and return to Wu Chi.

It is not excessive or deficient;
it follows a bending, adheres to an extension.

When the opponent is hard and I am soft,
it is called tsou [yielding].

When I follow the opponent and he becomes backed up,
it is called nian [sticking].

If the opponent’s movement is quick,
then quickly respond;
if his movement is slow,
then follow slowly.

Although there are innumerable variations,
the principles that pervades them remain the same.

From familiarity with the correct touch,
one gradually comprehends chin [intrinsic strength];
from the comprehension of chin one can reach wisdom.

Without long practice
one cannot suddenly understand T’ai Chi.

Effortlessly the chin reaches the headtop.

Let the ch’i [vital life energy] sink to the tan-t’ien [field of elixir].

Don’t lean in any direction;
suddenly appear,
suddenly disappear.

Empty the left wherever a pressure appears,
and similarly the right.

If the opponent raises up, I seem taller;
if he sinks down, then I seem lower;
advancing, he finds the distance seems incredibly long;
retreating, the distance seems exasperatingly short.

A feather cannot be placed,
and a fly cannot alight
on any part of the body.

The opponent does not know me;
I alone know him.

To become a peerless boxer results from this.

There are many boxing arts.

Although they use different forms,
for the most part they don’t go beyond
the strong dominating the weak,
and the slow resigning to the swift.

The strong defeating the weak
and the slow hands ceding to the swift hands
are all the results of natural abilities
and not of well-trained techniques.

From the sentence “A force of four ounces deflects a thousand pounds”
we know that the technique is not accomplished with strength.

The spectacle of an old person defeating a group of young people,
how can it be due to swiftness?

Stand like a perfectly balanced scale and
move like a turning wheel.

Sinking to one side allows movement to flow;
being double-weighted is sluggish.

Anyone who has spent years of practice and still cannot neutralize,
and is always controlled by his opponent,
has not apprehended the fault of double-weightedness.

To avoid this fault one must distinguish yin from yang.

To adhere means to yield.
To yield means to adhere.

Within yin there is yang.
Within yang there is yin.

Yin and yang mutually aid and change each other.

Understanding this you can say you understand chin.
After you understand chin,
the more you practice,
the more skill.

Silently treasure knowledge and turn it over in the mind.
Gradually you can do as you like.

Fundamentally, it is giving up yourself to follow others.
Most people mistakenly give up the near to seek the far.
It is said, “Missing it by a little will lead many miles astray.”

The practitioner must carefully study.

This is the Treatise

Reference:
T’ai Chi Ch’uan Classics www.scheele.org

http://lotusinthemud.typepad.com/sujatin/2006/12/earthshakers_th.html

Walking and Tai Chi Chuan practice at daybreak. 

Karen and I go shopping in Redding.  Lunch at Chevy's Mexican food. 

Gym TFFC (incline squats, bench press).   
Teach Power Yoga for 45 minutes. 

Walking and Tai Chi Chuan practice at daybreak. 

Working around the house on chores and improvement projects.  Garage cleanup
and rorganization. 

Set up outdoor fireplace. 

Recording a new spin and yoga class music MP3 collection.  

When I gave the Devil a ride, he always wanted to drive.

When I gave Mara a ride, She wanted to drive;
So I let Her.  Mistake!  I barely survived.
After crash after crash, we were home in a flash. 
I turned off the TV, Time expanded at last.
I turned off the MP3s, and I heard the birds sing.
I turned off the radio, and the voices disappeared.
I turned off the computer, and my fingers were still. 
I closed the book, and my eyes found the world.
I stood in silence, the spirit rested.
 

Tai Chi for Life: Sun Style Tai Chi.  73 Standard Competition Form.  DVD Instruction, 90 minutes.
Instruction by Master Guangzhi Xing.  Turtle Press.  "Sun style was developed by Master Sun Lu-Tang,
using elements from various Chinese boxing schools. It features quick hand and foot movements
as well as smooth footwork, earning it the name of "the form of the flowing steps." On this DVD,
Master Xing teaches you the 73-movement form developed by the Chinese National Wushu
Association from the traditional Sun family form for international competition. Begin with a
warm-up followed by detailed instruction in the movements that make up the forms. Master Xing
demonstrates from the front, rear and side views, performing the complete form then teaching
the individual movements one by one with detailed instruction."   Instruction in English and with
some text over video.  Huo Bu Jia: The Form of the Flowing Steps.  Copyright Turtle Press,
2002-2005. 

"There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or to accept the responsibility for changing them."

-- Denis Waitley

Echoes of Cold Moon

http://echoes-of-cold-moon.blogspot.com/2006/09/my-first-kung-fu-tournament.html

Working around the house on chores and projects.

Walking and Tai Chi Chuan practice in the morning. 

Debbie and Jordan visit and we exchange some gifts and foods.   

Mick and April arrive in Red Bluff after driving south from Portland.   

Right Person for the Tao from A Touch of Ancients
http://atouchofancientszhouyi.blogspot.com/

If you do not believe that they talk like the sage, compare it with what Zhuangzi said in Chapter Two of his text:

Everything has its "that," everything has its "this." From the point of view of "that" you cannot see it, but through understanding you can know it. So I say, "that" comes out of "this" and "this" depends on "that" - which is to say that "this" and "that" give birth to each other. But where there is birth there must be death; where there is death there must be birth. Where there is acceptability there must be unacceptability; where there is unacceptability there must be acceptability. Where there is recognition of right there must be recognition of wrong; where there is recognition of wrong there must be recognition of right. Therefore the sage does not proceed in such a way, but illuminates all in the light of Heaven. He too recognizes a "this," but a "this" which is also "that," a "that" which is also "this." His "that" has both a right and a wrong in it; his "this" too has both a right and a wrong in it. So, in fact, does he still have a "this" and "that"? Or does he in fact no longer have a "this" and "that"? A state in which "this" and "that" no longer find their opposites is called the hinge of the Way. When the hinge is fitted into the socket, it can respond endlessly. Its right then is a single endlessness and its wrong too is a single endlessness. So, I say, the best thing to use is clarity.
[Burton Watson – terebess.hu]

http://atouchofancientszhouyi.blogspot.com/

A touch of Ancients, Buddhas, Immortals and Zhouyi

By Allan Lian

Walking and Tai Chi Chuan in the morning.  Practice with jo and sword. 

Relax and socialize with Mick and April during the day.

Christmas Eve Celebration and dinner with Mick and April. 

Christmas Day!   Peace on Earth and Good Will towards all.

Walking and Taijiquan in the morning.  Practice with jo and sword. 

 

Alicia, Sean, and Katie Flinn
April and Mick Garofalo
Karen and Mike Garofalo
Thanksgiving/Christmas Portrait 2006

 

The human mind has some strong skills in discerning order in
disordered assemblies of data, finding information hidden in
codes, and creating forms from random collections of things. 
Cambridge University reading researchers, found that many
people could make sense out of misspelled words.  It dseno't mtaetr
in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng
is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can
be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is
bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but
the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? Yaeh, and I awlyas tghuhot
slpeling was ipmorantt!

Try tilting you head you head to the left after viewing the following
work of art. 

 

 

-- Shihan Chris Rowen, Goju Ryu

So if you only train twice per week at the dojo you're missing out on 99% of your training!

The dojo is a place to listen, learn and receive corrections to your technique. The rest is up to you.

Another quote, and I'm afraid I've lost the reference....
"The one thing I can't do is practice for you"
 

Too early in the morning? Get up and train. Cold and wet outside? Go train. Weary of the whole journey and longing for a moment to stop and rest? Train.

Continue on in the spirit of perseverance.

(Dave Lowry)

“No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, no culture so comparable to that of the garden…But though an old man, I am a young gardener.” Thomas Jefferson

“Gardening requires lots of water, most of it in the form of perspiration.” Lou Erickson

“Gardening is something you learn by doing” Carol Stocker

“The home gardener is part scientist, part artist, part philosopher, part plowman. He modifies the climate around his home.” John R. Whiting

“How can you expect the birds to sing when their groves are cut down?” Henry David Thoreau

“Nature has no human inhabitant who appreciates her. The birds with their plumage and their notes are in harmony with the flowers, but what youth or maiden conspires with the wild luxuriant beauty of Nature? She flourishes most alone, far from the towns where they reside. Talk of heaven! Ye disgrace the earth.” Henry David Thoreau

“Dear old garden of long ago,
Part of my childhood memories,
Hollyhocks nod in your farthest row
Under the linden trees” Bessie Sherman

“Who sows a field, or trains a flower, or plants a tree, is more than all.” John Greenleaf Whittier

“I tend my flowers for thee” Emily Dickinson

“Dear, old-fashioned, little flower!
Eden is old-fashioned too!” Emily Dickinson

“Willow, tree of water nymphs” Anna Akhmatova

“So lovely was the loneliness
Of a wild lake” Edgar Allan Poe

“In the creation of a garden, the architect invites the partnership of the Kingdom of Nature.” Sir George Sitwell

“Every flower must grow through dirt” Anonymous

“There are tongues in trees, sermons in stones, and books in running brooks” Shakespeare

“To sit on rocks; to muse o’er flood and fell; to slowly trace the forest’s shady scene” Byron

“My flowers grow up in several parts of the garden in the greatest luxuriancy and profusion” Joseph Addison

“The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn” Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Good huswifes in Sommer will save their owne seedes against next yere, as occasion neeedes.” Thomas Tusser

“The most noteworthy thing about gardeners is that they are always optimistic, always enterprising and never satisfied.” Vita Sackville-West

“Though a tree grows high, the falling leaves return to the root.” Malay Proverb

“If a tree dies, plant another in its place.” Linnaeus

“I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees because the trees have no tongues.” Dr. Seuss

“Suburbia is where a developer bulldozes out the trees, then names the streets after them.” Bill Vaughan

“You can complain because roses have thorns or you can rejoice because thorns have roses.” Ziggy

“I consider every plant hardy until I have killed it myself” Sir Peter Smithers

“Sweet flowers are slow and weeds make haste” Shakespeare

“Gardening is a kind of disease. It infects you, you can’t escape it.” Lewis Gannit

“A garden is a symbol of man’s arrogance, perverting nature to human ends” Tim Smit

“Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them” A.A. Milne

“A garden always gives back more than it receives” Mara Beamish

“An addiction to gardening is not all bad when you consider all the other choices in life.” Cora Lea Bell

“Nature does not complete things. She is chaotic. Man must finish, and he does so by making a garden and building a wall.” Robert Frost

“The lesson I have thoroughly learnt, and wish to pass on to others, is to know the enduring happiness that the love of a garden gives” Gertrude Jekyll

“Daisies, ye flowers of lowly birth
Embroideries of the carpet earth,
That gem of velvet sod” Clare


“Violets dim, yet sweeter than the lids of Juno’s eyes or Cytherea’s breathe.” Shakespeare

“Knowing trees, I understand the meaning of patience. Knowing grass, I can appreciate persistence.” Hal Borland

“Nature the vicar of the Almighty Lord” Chaucer

“There are only two attitudes toward nature. One confronts it or accepts it.” Teiji Ito

“The site of the garden should be of such a measure as may suit those plants that are expected to exist in it” Pietro De Crescenzi

“What is a weed? I have heard there are sixty definitions. For me, it is a plant out of place.” Donald Culross Peattie

“I don’t think we’ll ever know all there is to know about gardening, and I’m just glad as there will always be some magic about it” Barbara Damrosch

“Plants seem to be scattered profusely over the face of the earth like stars in the heavens, so that the lure of pleasure and curiosity should lead men to study nature.” Jean-Jacques Rousseau

 No walk, no tai chi, no weightlifting, no teaching yoga.  Work around in the
yard all day, chat with family, eat and drink too much good food. 

Lately, I fall asleep early and get up early at 3 to 4 am. 

Walking and taichichuan.  Teach yoga at night.

Mick and April leave and return to Portland.

Rough play all day indoors and outdoors. 

Walking and tai chi chuan in the morning. 
 

Teach tai chi and yoga at TFFC. 

Work outdoors on projects.

Finished my first draft of my list of 11 Things to Do in 1,001 Days.

Finished by first draft of my list of 101 Things to Do in 1,001 Days

Pulling Onions:

-  Pulling Onions, by Mike Garofalo

Nothing to contribute this month. 

Walking and Tai Chi Chuan and Jo Practice in the morning.

Work around the house on projects during the day.

Feedback from Readers in December 2006:

"What a fabulous site to stumble upon early on a Sunday morning ... thank
you!"
- Darcie Richardson

"Hello Mike,

 

I am Graham North, a gardener, and i am currently working together with a production team, and aiming to produce a new type of gardening programme on Channel 4 Television, England.

 

My aim is to show the history, magic and use of plants, in an exitcing and magical way. The inspired information we gain will lead to a plant choice. We hope to capture the imagination of the viewer through this plant history/magic voyage. 

 

I am contacting you to see if you would like to be my Wizard on T.V, and help me show how all people with gardens have the ability to make it into something special, and individual, and also to understand the great depth there is the plant itself.       

 

It is hard in this black and white format to go much further, but i do appreciate and respect Wizard knowledge, and subsequently your possible feeling of apprehension towards a Television appearance. I have the idea of incorporating magic, not dispersing it, so if you are initially interested,  we could look at being incredibly descreet in the use of your good self.

 

This looks so boring in black and white, but i aim to make a magical gardening programme. I hope this is of interest to you, and i look forward to hearing from you."
- Graham North, London, England

 

"Hi Mike: I've enjoyed browsing the Spirit of Gardening site. I'm an amateur, once-in-a-while gardener myself (though when you live in an urban area with a small yard and two athletic boys, the garden doesn't get much priority). I also run Marion Street Press, Inc., a book publisher in Forest Park, Illinois. We specialize in books about language, writing and journalism. You can see our list at http://www.marionstreetpress.com

I'm writing because I think a book about the language of gardening would be a hit. I envision a gift book that collects quotations about gardening, evidence of how garden language has affected English as a whole (cliches, for instance), maybe some poems, etc. It wouldn't be a scholarly work, nor a gardener's dictionary. Just a celebration of the language of gardens and gardeners. 

 

Two questions for you: 1) What types of books like this exist now? A cursory Amazon search didn't turn much up. And 2) Would you consider being the author/editor of such a book? It appears from your site that most of the compilation is already done - you would just have to cull the best stuff.  Thoughts?"
-  Ed Avis, Forest Park, Illinois

 

"This is Cindy from Garden Site Awards.  You probably didn't know,
but one of your website visitors nominated your website for our "Best
Garden Website Award" last week.

We get over 150 nominations each week but only a couple websites are
given our award. After reviewing your site, we've decided you deserve
this month's Best Garden Website Award.  Congratulations!!

Keep up the great work on your website!  You have some excellent
content already on it and I'm sure it will only get better.

Cindy Meadows
12/6/06