All of us are watchers – of television, of time clocks, of traffic on the freeway – but few are observers. Everyone is looking, not many are seeing.
~ Peter M. Leschak
| Valley Spirit Journal | ||
| February 2007 |
February |
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By Michael P.
Garofalo Red Bluff, California |
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Photo of my grand-daughter, Katelyn Alice Flinn,
Recent picture of Katie Flinn.
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Valley Spirit Websites |
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February 1, Thursday, 2007 Work for CUESD from 7:30 am to 4:00 pm. Meet with
Sondra Hall and do Woodson proposal. TFFC: Play some basketball. Teach yoga for 75 minutes.
An unusually shaped tree grown at Nob Hill Foods, Gilroy, California.
Another unusually shaped tree grown at Nob Hill Foods, Gilroy, California.
A dancing tree. Location unknown.
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Publications Cuttings Above the Fog Pulling Onions Valley Spirit Journal Cloud Hands Blog Photographs Green Way Blog History of Gardening Categories
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February 2, Friday, 2007 Medical tests at Red Bluff Imaging Center. Dr. Plett is
exploring possible reasons for my rising Putting posts into the Sacred Garden. Transplant two roses and water all the gardens and back porch.
"The Three Intentful Corrections
"The secret of happiness
lies in taking a genuine interest in all
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T'ai Chi Ch'uan
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February 3, Saturday, 2007
"I you want to follow the doctrine
of the One,
Walking and Tai Chi Chuan practice in the early morning. TFFC: Teach Tai Chi Chuan for 1 hour, and Yoga for 75 minutes. Karen busy with Debbie, Jordan, and Maria for dinner and birthday party. Purchase 5 posts and concrete mix at Home Depot. These supplies will
enable me to finish Plant one bare root maple tree in our yard. Transplant two more roses. In the evening, work on the TCAA agenda and minutes.
Progress on the Valley Spirit Sacred Circle. 12 of 17 posts for the 5th outer circle completed. I'm holding a level and a square.
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General Beauty Chan Poetry Cold Mountain Buddhas Concrete Poetry Earth Fitness Flowers Green Wizard Haiku History of Gardening Labyrinths Meditation Seeing Simplicity String Figures Taijiquan Trees Walking Will Power Yoga Zen Poetry |
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February 4, Sunday, 2007
Walking and Tai Chi Chuan in the morning. Planted two bare root maple trees in the garden with Karen. They were large specimens so it took us awhile to plant them. Plant 3 cameillas in the backyard. An easy job planting these 1 gallon plants in the shady areas of our backyard garden. These replace the roses. We shall see how they do in the shady areas. Transplant one rose from from the ground into a 5 gallon container. Probably less than 6 left to transplant into 5 gallon containers. The roses were planted 9 years ago when the garden was well lighted in the summertime and the trees and shrubs were quite small. We are moving these roses in the spring to a well lit area in the Sacred Circle. Finish putting Sacred Circle posts in 3rd Outer Circle of the Sacred Circle. We planted two "Autumn Fantasy Maple - Acer freemanii. New hybrid of red maple and silver maple. Bright red fall color, even in warm climates. Fast-growing, strong-limbed, tolerates alkaline soil, drought. Sunset zones 1-9, 14-24."
We have many more plants in 5 and 1 gallon containers. Some were gifts from other people at Christmas. Some were transplants. Some started from seed. Some were purchased by Karen or me in the past. Some are winter cuttings of figs.
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Valley Spirit Journal Archives
June 2007 |
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February 5, Monday, 2007 Work around the house. TFFC: Teach spin cycling class.
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Gardening
Air Beauty Clichés Earth Fire Flowers History Humor Green Way Blog Green Wizard History Index Jokes Months Olives Seeing Simplicity Timeline Trees Tree Lore Water Weeding |
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February 6, Tuesday, 2007 Work for CUESD from 7:30 - 4 pm. TFFC: Talk with a number of people about the TFFC Website. Lift weights and then teach Hatha Yoga to 21 people from 5:30 - 6:45 pm.
Different snake styles imitate different movements of snakes. Some, for
example, imitate the Cobra, while others imitate the python, while some schools
imitate both for different applications. There are two unrelated, Northern and
Southern snake styles. Snake Style Kung Fu
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Biographies
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February 7, Wednesday, 2007
Get standard fasting blood sugar tests in the morning. Purchase tax program and get copies of TCCommision on Aging minutes and agenda. Work for CUESD from 10 - 4. TFFC: Weightlifting (bench press and squats) then teach Power Yoga class from 5:30 to 6:15 pm. Do some cardio-kickboxing class taught by Tonya.
More clearly than the teacher could express
it in words,
they tell the pupil that the right frame of mind for the artist is only reached when the preparing and the creating, the technical and the artistic, the material and the spiritual, the project and the object, flow together without a break. (Eugen Herrigal)
A feather cannot be placed, and a fly cannot alight
on any part of the body.
(Wang Tsung-yueh) From the sentence "A force of four ounces deflects a thousand pounds" we know that the technique is not accomplished with strength. (Wang Tsung-yueh) The spectacle of an old person defeating a group of young people, how can it be due to swiftness? (Wang Tsung-yueh) Empty the left wherever a pressure appears, and similarly the right. (Wang Tsung-yueh) The opponent does not know me; I alone know him. (Wang Tsung-yueh) Walk like a cat. (Wu Yu-hsiang) Remember, when moving, there is no place that does not move. When still, there is no place that is not still. (Wu Yu-hsiang) In motion the whole body should be light and agile, with all parts of the body linked as if threaded together. (Chang San-feng) The ancient masters understood mystery. The depths of their wisdom were unfathomable, so all we have are descriptions of how they looked... Careful, as if crossing a frozen river. Alert, as if aware of danger. Respectful, like a guest. Yielding, like melting ice. Simple, like a valley. (Lao Tzu) These quotations all have a common theme: yin body. Dynamic Balancing Tai Chi http://dynamicbalancingtaichi.blogspot.com/
http://dynamicbalancingtaichi.blogspot.com/2006/10/yin-body.html
Visit Nick Waller's Dynamic Balancing Tai Chi.
“It is a general rule of human nature that people despise those who
treat them well, and look up to those who make no concessions.”
- Thucydides I’m doing a course at the moment. It’s bloody hard, very demanding. The instructors are first class at what they do, real role models for the skills they’re teaching. The criticism they give is unflinching and brutally honest. The self evaluation forces you to look inwards and try to level that same fair, but all seeing critical eye on your own performance and skills. It’s not criticism from some sports pundit twat that could never even attempt the things he is criticising others for actually doing. No, it’s good criticism, the kind that makes you grow, from people that really know. Why am I saying ‘makes you grow’ ? how do I know I’m growing? Because it’s painful. Painful and hard.
“Your pain
is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.” “Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.” “Battle takes away the easy supply of daily wants and so proves a
rough master that brings most men’s characters to a level with their
fortunes.” “Body and spirit I surrendered whole to harsh instructors – and
received a soul.” “He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools
suffers harm.” “One should be prepared to receive ninety-nine percent of an enemy’s
attack and stare death right in the face in order to illumine the Path.
” Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a
year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its
place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.” “We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey.” “We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or
the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces while
regret weighs tons.” “Painful as it may be, a significant emotional event can be the
catalyst for choosing a direction that serves us-and those around us -
more effectively. Look for the learning.”
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Mysticism Nature Mysticism Green Way Blog Green Wizard Spirituality Tree Lore Eight Trigrams Taoism Green Way Blog Taiji Classics Valley Spirit Center Bagua Walking Meditation I Ching Religion |
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February 8, Thursday, 2007 Work for CUESD from 7:30 to 4 pm. Meet on Maywood school library improvement project. TFFC:
Weightlifting (bent rows, shrugs, military press with dumbells, bicep curls).
A certain day became a presence
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Indexes Quotes - Gardening Taijiquan Months Zen |
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February 9,
Friday, 2007
"For most of us, the biggest contribution we make to destabilising the
planet's climate is through flying. If one person flies one way, one time to
Miami, you emit more greenhouse gases than the average SUV driver in a year. You
could cycle, recycle and use energy-saving light bulbs for the rest of your
life, and it's all cancelled out by a single weekend break by the beach." Research and writing. Work for CUESD from 1:30 to 4 pm.
~ Vincent Van Gogh
~ Sister Wendy Beckett
A number of <a href="http://sciencepolicy.colorado.edu/prometheus/archives/climate_change/001056change_the_climate_.html">articles</a>
have appeared lately that make the case against planting trees in northern
latitudes because they increase rather than decrease general warming trends.
There is some debate about this thesis.
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Search Amazon Wikipedia |
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February 10,
Saturday, 2007
Walking and Tai Chi Chuan in the morning. Teach Tai Chi and Yoga from 10 - 12:15 at TFFC. Tai Chi really attracted a lot of students: 8. Does Tai Chi Build Strength http://taichicentral.blogspot.com/2007/02/can-tai-chi-really-develop-strength.html
I frequently see articles about the issue of Tai Chi and strength training. Regular Tai Chi practice, especially with low stances, does build some strength in the legs and waist areas. However, Tai Chi Chuan does very little for the strength and power of the upper body, or for endurance. If you want to effectively hit, grab, block, twist or throw your opponent in a fight you need do regular supplementary strength training for the upper body using weights, calisthenics, bag work, and other techniques. If you want endurance, then you need to do regular aerobic conditioning. To gain real strength, speed, toughness, and endurance, then diversify your daily conditioning and fitness program. I do not believe that Tai Chi Chuan practice alone is sufficient for an effective fitness regimen. A Tai Chi enthusiast should be supportive of all efforts to get strong, flexible, and in great shape. A very muscular man or woman, a devoted bodybuilder, or a highly conditioned athlete can greatly benefit from doing Tai Chi Chuan. Likewise, those Tai Chi enthusiasts who cannot do 10 pushups in good form, might want to consider some diversification in their exercise routines. Keep in mind that in 1850 a skilled Tai Chi Chuan internal martial artist very likely walked many many miles every day and very likely did hard agricultural labor and many physical household chores each day. Contrast this with the office worker in 2007, whose "exercise" consists of an average of 40 minutes of gentle Tai Chi practice a day. Who is stronger? How did one get more skilled at Tai Chi Chuan than the other? Do not confuse relaxation with flaccidity or weakness. A person might be very strong, and very muscular, and yet move very smoothly, be open and relaxed, quite calm, free of unnecessary muscular or mental tension, alert, settled, focused, and ready to quickly respond. Tai Chi helps cultivate this fluid, calm, alert, untense state of being (Sung) in both very strong persons and weak persons (i.e., poorly conditioned, out of shape, frail, recovering from illness, etc.), and it can help some in making weaker persons a little stronger in their legs and waist. When I picture a "fighter" is see a highly conditioned kick boxer stepping into the ring. Those Tai Chi enthusiasts, those that eschew the brute force of the ring masters, or lack appreciation for the ring masters, are not fighters. They may be dancers, they may be meditators, they may be gentle shadow boxers, they may be scholars taking light exercise in the morning, they may be practicing an ancient and honorable art, they may be having fun playing ... but they are not fighters until they train as fighters. We might choose to practice Tai Chi without any martial arts emphasis, and it may have some value to us, and be somewhat beneficial for our health in both body and mind. The path of the fighter might not be our path. But, we non-fighters need to give due respect towards those Tai Chi Chuan martial artists who are fighters, who train as fighters, and who follow the Warrior's Way. For other discussions of this subject, read "Does Tai Chi Build Strength" by
Sifu Chris; or "Tension is Not Strength" by
Yang Cheng Fu (1833-1936) exemplifies the highest
natural talent and achievement in tai chi since he was entirely
self-taught after his father died.
His great example encourages us that even if excellent teachers are hard to find, we candevelop by ourselves if we really understand and apply the theories and principles of tai chi chuan. (Jou Tsung Hwa)
No person is your friend who demands
your silence, or denies your right to grow.
(Alice Walker)
We live deliberately when:
- we decide to buy what we want, instead of what others say we should want. - we think for ourselves, instead of being told what to think. - we recognise that there are some things that are more important than money. - we fulfil the demands of our work without being controlled by it. - we find space in our life to think, pray and relax. - we value and nurture our relationships. - we live in a way that is self-determined, original and fulfilling. Above all, we live deliberately when we develop our own consciously-chose lifestyle to replace the one we were sold 'off the peg'. (Nick Page)
Not every end is the goal. The end of a melody is not its goal, and
yet if a melody has not reached its end, it has not reached its
goal.
- Friedrich Nietzsche The free man is he who does not fear to go
to the end of his thought. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires
courage If you want to know the end, look at the beginning If a man neglects education, he walks lame to the end of his life Never too Old for Mastering the Martial Arts http://www.newsregister.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=217867
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Webmaster Notes PostNuke WordPress CMS: GWR |
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February 11,
Sunday, 2007
Walking and Tai Chi Chuan in the morning.
Sitting in your garden is a feat to be worked at with unflagging
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Qigong Eight Section Brocade Wild Goose Cloud Hands Blog Five Animal Frolics Standing Meditation Breathing Links T'ai Chi Ch'uan Relaxation (Sung) Silk Reeling Bibliography Eight Trigrams Taoism Valley Spirit Center |
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February 12,
Monday, 2007
Walking and Tai Chi Chuan in the morning. Work around the house. Research and reading. TFFC: Weightlifting (pulldowns, reverse leg curls, back
hyperextensions, tricep pushdowns, seated rows).
Let us try what it is to be true to gravity,
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Months Winter January February March Spring April May June Summer July August September Autumn October November December Index |
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February 13,
Tuesday, 2007
Spiritual progress amounts to an expanding heart. The heart expands and contains. It contains the world – the world you move in. When you make spiritual progress the heart expands and the world you move in grows – you are now part of a bigger, richer and more inclusive world. How does this progress happen? Firstly, the work you do gathers energy to you. This energy is tinged by the quality (purity) of your motivation. This energy in itself, no matter how strong and intense, cannot break out of your present world and into the bigger purer one beckoning you until your motivation shifts to align itself with that next new world. The inspiration for this realignment always comes from outside – a moment of grace – a powerful teaching you experience somewhere and somehow. The vigilance required to be awake to these subtle moments is the vigilance of a yielder – a non-self-centred person, so accustomed to putting the other first that their energy and awareness are always connecting and never residing within. The inspired shift in motivation amounts to a change of strategy, a change of heart and a change of life. The next change is always more difficult to achieve than the last, otherwise how can it possibly take you outside the realm of your experience? What this difficulty means is that you need to become more and more consumed – more passionate – more emotional – as time goes by. This doesn't need to express itself as raging lunacy, but as a rawness, fragility and openness just this side of bearable. Always on that edge. Steven Moore, Dynamic Balancing Tai Chi
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Blogs Valley Spirit Journal Photographs Cloud Hands Blog Green Way Blog CUESD Info/Zone Blog |
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February 14,
Wednesday, 2007
Review Goals, Accomplish Objectives, and
Manage Progress:
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Photography Valley Spirit Photos Home Gardens |
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February 15,
Thursday, 2007
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Michael
P. Garofalo Brief Biography Resume Internal Arts Practices Work Valley Spirit Center Yoga Instructor Home Gardens Websites |
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February 16,
Friday, 2007
The fields of Eden This talk of freedom We're in the same boat Stuck between a rock "Rock and a Hard Place"
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February 17,
Saturday, 2007
Karen and I drove from Red Bluff to Mojave, California. We drove south on Highway 99 to Bakersfield. A few treees are coming into bloom in orchards.
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February 18,
Sunday, 2007
We drove from Mojave to Las Vegas. Visited all day with Betty and Bud Yarber, Helen, Sarah and David Todd.
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February 19,
Monday, 2007
We drove up Highway 93 from Las Vegas to Ely, Nevada. Some light snow in the higher passes. Spectacular Great Basin desert scenery. Mt. Wheeler was very dramatic. Stayed in Ely. The town had 5 inches of snow on the ground.
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February 20,
Tuesday, 2007
We drove from Ely to Reno, Nevada, on Highway 50, the Lincoln Highway. The only towns were Ely, Eureka, Austin, and Fallon, and Reno. At a high pass neary Ely, the temperature was 3 degrees F. Snow everywhere for the first 200 miles from Ely. This road was called "The Lonliest Road on America."
All the high passes (6,000 to 7,500 feet) in this area of Nevada had pinyon and juniper forests.
We stayed at Harrah's Hotel in downtown Reno. Many creature comforts!
Lincoln Highway http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu:80/~jlin/lincoln/ Lincoln Highway Association http://www.lincolnhighwayassoc.org/
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February 21,
Wednesday, 2007
Drove from Reno via 80 to route 20 then to Highway 99 E. We stopped in Nevada City and Chico before returning to our home in Red Bluff. Relaxed around the house in the afternoon and evening. Caught up with email and phone calls.
Dig the well before you are thirsty.
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February 22,
Thursday, 2007
Up around 5 am. Cleaning and sorting and putting things away after our trip. It was raining gently today in Red Bluff. Work on taxes and business matters. Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a man's growth without destroying his roots.
Frank A. Clark
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February 23,
Friday, 2007
Reading and writing in the early morning. Walking and Tai Chi Chuan in the morning. Work outdoors on gardening and placing posts in the Sacred Circle. Finish 2006 federal and state taxes. Add information to the TFFC website.
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February 24,
Saturday, 2007
Reading and writing in the early morning hours. Walking and Tai Chi Chuan in the morning.
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February 25,
Sunday, 2007
This is an excellent chart provided by the Center
for Contemplative Mind in Society.
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February 26,
Monday, 2007
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February 27,
Tuesday, 2007
Pulling Onions: - Pulling Onions, by Mike Garofalo
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February 28,
Wednesday, 2007
Feedback from Readers in February, 2007:
"I just came across your page while doing research for an upcoming
presentation - actually I came across it in the past but because of time
constraints did not take the time to visit. That was a mistake, but you are
now saved in MyFavorites.
I want you to know that I think you have done an extraordinary service to
the tai chi community."
- Roy W. Geib, Ph.D., Alvin S. Levine Professor of Microbiology & Immunology, Indiana University School of Medicine, 2/10/2007 "Just a short
note to say how much delight I have taken from the poetry
"Hi Mike,
"RE: “Weeding my fiction
books; into the giveaway box two old Bibles tossed.” (Your words
taken from one of your web pages).
Just had to let you know that if the message is to toss out “two old
Bibles” as a weeding out of you “fiction books”, is ignorance. Just
because you have not received the baptism of the holy spirit, who
comes in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and only in
that name, does not mean that it does not exist.
RGW,
Yes, in my opinion, the Bible is mostly
unimportant hokum offered up by Middle-Eastern men who had too much hot sun on their
heads. Moslems and their Koran are no better. Why decent and educated
women and men would bother to ponder the drivel of these ancient Jews and
Arabs is beyond my understanding. What little there is in the
Bible or Koran that is of value to us in 2007 could be figured out on
their own by anybody with ten cents of common sense.
Just because you, RGW, believe in something does not mean it exists, no mater how many manly divine authorities you fancy. Maybe the "holy spirit" will someday help you see the truth. And, likewise ... have a nice day!
Mike
Complex, rich and meaningful both inside and outside the body; yet, changing and impermanent. To many, that which is impermanent and finite is unreal, even nothing; and only that which is eternal, unchanging, and spiritual-supernatural is real. To me, that which is real is most often changing and impermanent; "eternal" beings are largely fictions. Love has its place in the mix of virtues, but it is overrated by many, and mostly applied to a small circle of family and friends.
Eight Recommendations for Cultivating the Whole and Better Person: 1. Cultivate the Wide Open Mind 2. Cultivate the Energy of the Body 3. Cultivate Simplicity in Living
Review Goals, Accomplish Objectives, and
Manage Progress:
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