Michael P. Garofalo: Green Way

Green Way Gardening Journal Started

Sun, 03 Aug 2003 22:19:30 GMT

Started making entries in the Green Way Gardening Journal.

These entries will also be posted to the Green Way Blog on the Radio Weblog.

This journal will also be published in a newsletter format to subscribers.

A day for getting organized!

Atlantic.Net and Feature Price Are Ripoff Web Hosts!! BEWARE!

Sat, 12 Jul 2003 12:38:19 GMT

I apologize to the thousands of people who visited my third website this month, Green Way Research, only to find nothing there. I also apologize to everyone who sent me e-mail that has been withheld by the ripoff web host Atlantic.Net and defunct Feature Price. Green Way Research serves up over 45,000 webpages each month.

Finally, after being down from 7/1/2003 until 7/11/2003, the many webpages at Green Way Research are now up and running on new web servers. My e-mail is again working properly.

Here is what happened:

1. In December 2002, I paid cash up front to Feature Price to host my website, and things were going just fine at www.egreenway.com.

2. Atlantic.Net "acquires" and takes over accounts of the Feature Price company, then without any warning or explanation my website and email disappear on July 1, 2003.

3. I read a message from Atlantic.Net on 7/2 that I need to join up with them and pay more money to them to get my website back up. If I don't, I don't get a refund, and my website and e-mail disappear, even though I have already paid for six more months of service.

4. Atlantic.Net falsely "talks" at its website (Feature Price FAQ) about demonstating its "good will" and "positive intentions" and "customer service" and providing "excellent web hosting services" .... Hooey!! No service, take your money and run, don't respond - that is the REAL deal you get from Atlantic.Net.

5. My e-mails to Feature Price and Atlantic.Net went unanswered, and their phone lines were always busy.

In my opinion, if Atlantic.Net was a decent and businesslike web hosting company, a company wanting to keep its paying customers, they would have kept my website and email running, sent me a informative e-mail about the change in ownership, told me about their fine services and reasonable costs, told me when I would need to pay them to renew in 12/2003, and welcomed me into to the Atlantic.Net family. I would have patted them on the back for a transitional job well done and signed up and paid another year in advance.

Atlantic.Net's inept and avaricious transition leadership "team" has jumped offsides so many times and fumbled the ball and threw interceptions, just like the Raiders did in the last Super Bowl, and lost the game for them.

What a very disappointing two weeks for a webmaster. I recommend that you not subject yourself to the fumbling and stealing and duplicity of the Atlantic.Net Web host ISP.

Feature Price and Atlantic.Net Are Ripoff Internet Web Hosts

Thu, 03 Jul 2003 13:39:01 GMT

My web host, for www. egreenway.com, was Feature Price, in Florida.
They have been "acquired" by Atlantic.Net.

Suddenly, without notice, my website and e-mail are no longer working.

Atlantic.Net replaced my index.htm webpage with their own. They say I must pay them more money to get my website back up, even though I am still paid up for another 6 months. What a racket!! Based on my experiences, Atlantic.Net and Feature Price are a ripoff team, can't do the work you pay them to do, can't run your webpages or mail server, make excuses, and don't answer your e-mail or phone calls. Beware!!!

Cloud Hands: Tai Chi Chuan and Chi Kung

Wed, 18 Jun 2003 06:16:32 GMT

All my efforts at writing the last few weeks have gone into my Cloud Hands website.

I keep a journal/blog at the Cloud Hands website. It is called the
Valley Spirit Taijiquan Journal

Gardening and Taijiquan

Mon, 02 Jun 2003 18:21:42 GMT

I worked all day on mowing lawns, mulching, installing some pipe, and repairing drip lines. A beautiful, warm, and breezy Spring day. Taiji at dawn.

Tai Chi Chuan and gardening have a lot in common: a productive use of the body, relaxing the body by exercise, calming to the spirit, natural and close to the earth, a backyard activity, unhurried, consistent with the Five Precepts, environmentally low impact, nurturing, the cultivation of beauty, gentle, open-ended, pleasing to the senses, a daily effort, and endless.

Gardeners must be patient, so too Taiji players. Our gardens are never complete, neither are we. Our gardens need improvement, so does our form. Another day is a fine opportunity for cultivating our garden, so too for ourselves.

We just have now, and a plan for tomorrow. The past and distant future are interesting, often compelling, but we have our true being defined by what we will accomplish today. So, on this fine late spring day - water the garden and discover the Cloud Hands.

"Precisely the least, the softest, lightest, a lizard's rustling,
a breath, a flash, a moment - a little makes the way
of the best happiness."
- Frederich Nietzsche, Thus Spake Zarathustra

Chen Style Tai Chi Chuan

Mon, 26 May 2003 01:54:59 GMT

Chen Style Tai Chi Chuan: Links, Bibliography, Notes, and Quotes.
Compiled by Michael P. Garofalo.

Chinese Poetry: Han Shan

Tai Chi Chuan, Short Form, 24 Movement, Peking Version

Fri, 23 May 2003 13:07:01 GMT

"While making a stride, it is as quietly as a cat walks, and while putting forth strength the exertion is so mild that it looks like reeling off raw silk from a cocoon. The movements, like clouds floating in the sky, are spry and light, but well-balanced and steady. Motion is even and fluid, the muscles neither stiff nor rigid. Breathing should be deep and even ... the mind is tranquil but alert, with consciousness commanding the body. In practising T'ai Chi Chuan it is essential that movements be guided by consciousness and that there be stillness in movement - a unity of stillness and motion."
- Official Chinese instruction manual for the 24 movement short form, quoted by Howard Reid in his book "The Way of Harmony," p. 90.

Cloud Hands Tai Chi Chuan and Qi Gong

Tai Chi Chuan (Taijiquan)

Thu, 22 May 2003 12:59:05 GMT

Those interested in a website with good links and a extensive bibliography about Tai Chi Chuan (Taijiquan) should visit the Cloud Hands website. The website expands each day with new and interesting information, links, and references.

Those interested in the Yang Style of Tai Chi Chuan Simplified 24 Movement Form will find a webpage with a list of the 24 movements, comments, links, bibliography, and quotations.

Eight Section Brocade Qi Gong

Wed, 21 May 2003 02:07:49 GMT

A detailed description of the Eight Section Brocade Chi Kung form is now available at the Cloud Hands website. The webpage is over 100KB in size and is growing each week. It includes clear instructions for doing each of the Eight Treasures movements, variations for each movement, links to related websites, a bibliography, quotations, and a variety of comments about this popular Qi Gong form. The form can be used as a martial arts warm up set or as a chi kung set.

A bibliography and selected links about Qi Qong can also be found at the website.

Tai Chi Chuan - Cloud Hands

Tue, 20 May 2003 18:13:36 GMT

A new website is being developed by Michael P. Garofalo for followers of the path of Tai Chi Chuan. The website features articles on Taijiquan, links, bibliographies, and a journal. Sections on T'ai Ch'i Ch'uan include articles, links, quotes and comments about the Yang Style Simplified 24 Movement Short Form, the Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan 108 Movment Long Form, and the Chen Style of Taijiquan.

The Spirit of Trees

Tue, 25 Mar 2003 16:40:33 GMT

One fine new website about trees is The Spirit of Trees. It offers stories, folktales, essays, curricular resources, poems and links about the symbolic and aesthetic dimensions of trees. Outstanding links to folktales, stories, and legends about trees.

"Stand Tall and Proud
Sink your roots deeply into the Earth
Reflect the light of a greater source
Think long term
Go out on a limb
Remember your place among all living beings
Embrace with joy the changing seasons
For each yields its own abundance
The Energy and Birth of Spring
The Growth and Contentment of Summer
The Wisdom to let go of leaves in the Fall
The Rest and Quiet Renewal of Winter"
- Ilan Shamir, Advice From a Tree

The Spirit of Gardening offers four webpages with quotes, poems,
and links about trees.

March - Poems

Sat, 08 Mar 2003 23:21:47 GMT

Winter is long in this climate
and spring--a matter of a few days
only,--a flower or two picked
from mud or from among wet leaves
or at best against treacherous
bitterness of wind, and sky shining
teasingly, then closing in black
and sudden, with fierce jaws.
- William Carlos Williams, March
Patterson, New Jersey

Flushed purple
redbud shrubs -
creeks gushing.

March - Poems, Quotations, Links, Lore, and Garden Chores

Sat, 01 Mar 2003 15:12:00 GMT

The afternoon is bright,
with spring in the air,
a mild March afternoon,
with the breath of April stirring,
I am alone in the quiet patio
looking for some old untried illusion -
some shadow on the whiteness of the wall
some memory asleep
on the stone rim of the fountain,
perhaps in the air
the light swish of some trailing gown.
- Antonio Machado, 1875-1939
Selected Poems, # 3, Translated by Alan S. Trueblood

Time is one apricot blossom.
Space, a bee.
The Universe, honey.
And, the Goddess of Spring?

February - Poems, Quotations, Links, Lore, Garden Chores

Sat, 01 Mar 2003 01:24:20 GMT

From December to March, there are for many of us three gardens -
the garden outdoors,
the garden of pots and bowls in the house,
and the garden of the mind's eye.
- Katherine S. White

A dog barks at nothing,
a thousand ducks twitch--
winds of winter.

Cuttings - February

Thu, 27 Feb 2003 02:23:35 GMT

Blossoms dance down the sidewalks
as sunlight fades -
feeling my age.

The almond orchards have been in full bloom for the last few weeks. The white blossoms of the almonds and the new green grass on all the fields are the sure signs of Spring in our wide valley.

I read that a farmer reported having found that 74 beehives were stolen from his orchard, at an estimated value of $9,000. Talk about really being stung.

Father Serra first brought almonds to California in the 1790's, but the first real almond orchards were started near Sacramento in the 1850's. The east side of the north Sacramento Valley is now home to thousands of acres of almond orchards.

Late Winter - Poems, Links, Quotations, Lore

Tue, 25 Feb 2003 16:45:21 GMT

One highlight in our February garden is the purple-violet blossoms of Tuscan rosemary in the borders. The plant ranges from 3 to 4 feet in height, needs little attention, and thrives in our warm climate. Cuttings can be taken in the autumn months and a high percentage will root.

"The year is but a succession of days, and I see that I could assign some office to each day which, summed up, would be the history of the year. Everything is done in season, and there is no time to spare."
- Henry David Thoreau, Journal, August 24, 1852

Months - Quotes, Poems, Ideas and Folkore

Fri, 24 Jan 2003 02:56:47 GMT

Looking for poems, quotes, sayings, cliches, folklore, ideas, and customs related to specific months of the year.

I welcome your comments, suggestions, ideas, and link references related to each month of the year.

I completed January and February. Now I am working on March.

The trees down the boulevard stand naked in thought,
Their abundant summery wordage silenced, caught
In the grim undertow; naked the trees confront
Implacable winter's long, cross-questioning brunt.

- D. H. Lawrence, Winter in the Boulevard, 1916

My family in Indiana spoke to us about temperatures below 8 degrees. We enjoy a 45 degree fog in the Central Valley of California, green grass everywhere, and many hints of springtime. Snow and ice are found only in the mountain environments in our area.

Long yellow rushes bending
above the white snow patches;
purple and gold ribbon
of the distant wood:
what an angle
you make with each other as
you lie there in contemplation.
- William Carlos Williams, January Morning - XII

Planting Bare Root Trees

Sat, 18 Jan 2003 23:57:30 GMT

I've had a few setbacks this week with poor health. I felt good enough today to get back into the garden and do some work. What a lift for my spirits!

My wife, Karen, and I planted 5 bare root trees - a peach, nectarine, apple, and two cherry trees. We also planted many eucalyptus and beefwood slips.

The soil was still damp or wet from our recent heavy rains, filled with worms, and easy to work (unlike our summertime hard clay soil).

Our local nurseries had a wide variety trees in bare root stock. Kathy Goodin's nursery stock was very enticing.

Real gardening - not writing about real gardening.

Dark Skies into Clear Skies

Thu, 16 Jan 2003 16:25:48 GMT

Contrast and change in the garden is a key source of our interest. After many days of rain, the sudden appearance of clear blue skies invigorates our senses. New narcissus blooms jump up from the damp dark soil. The yellow flowers of the Marguerite bush (Chrysanthemum frutescens) light up a corner of the otherwise bare vegetable garden fence. Fresh new grass is everywhere: down orchard rows, in fields of winter wheat, across wide pasture lands - miles and miles of green. Across the northern edge of the wide Great Valley a skyline of snow capped peaks give birth to the rivers and creeks that feed our thirst for the divine waters of rejuvenation. The past autumn has blown way and the clear skies of winter hint softly of springtime. Sock caps are removed and sunshine warms my bald head.

"Down the Great Central Valley's
blossoming almond orchard acres
lines of tree trunks shoot a glance through
as the rows flash by -"

- Gary Snyder, "Covers the Ground",
"Mountains and Rivers Without End," 1996

Our deeping memories of seasonal changes,
the coming and going of the ten thousand things,
the intimate universe within our hat brims -
blossom out as our daily surprise,
our mature love for this world,
our enduring youthful wonder.

I take the apricot and peach stems in my hand,
break open their rough brown bones,
but cannot find even a slight hint of a single pink blossom,
no marvelous sign of a plump peach,
no heart of a leaf,
only the pregnant water of wood.

Blessed Be!

Virtual Trees

Thu, 16 Jan 2003 04:08:36 GMT

Many people, other than the authors, contribute to the making of a book, from the first person who had the bright idea of alphabetic writing through the inventor of movabletype to the lumberjacks who felled the trees that were pulped for its printing. It is not customary to acknowledge the trees themselves, though their commitment is total.
- Rada and Forsyth, Machine Learning

Or, the trees that made the lumber that makes up my home, or the wooden desk that supports my computer, or that millions of years ago fell and eventually became the carbon based fossil fuels we now use to make electricity. Our new virtual reality is also dependent upon the trees.

Time to hug a tree, or at least pat one on the back before you
put it in your wood stove. Talk about "total commitment!"

Trees - Quotes

It's All in the Detials

Tue, 14 Jan 2003 17:52:15 GMT

During my elementary school days I remember the good Sisters at St. Alphonsus School telling us to concentrate, to be careful, and to pay attention to the details. Excellence in spelling, cursive handwriting, grammar, and arithmetic were part of the emphasis upon paying attention to the details. There was an exact, precise and known "right way" to do these activities and we learned to concentrate on the correct way. They could see a fine response to a question, clever and creative thinking, and superior writing; however, if these were not presented and clothed in proper form, and in correct modes of expression, one was more likely to receive criticism than praise.

Most recreational gardeners have more freedom of expression. They can goof up, be sloppy, make mistakes, and are free to put the wrong plant in the wrong place and nurture it in the wrong manner. The death of the plant, like an F grade, is the ultimate result, in many cases, but some only care when looking at their empty wallet.

A good case can be made for bringing a love for details into one's gardening life. Read up one your soil, your climate, and the plants you wish to grow. Study your garden for patterns of light and shade as the seasons progress. Learn about the wide variety of "wild" plants and animals that live in and around your garden. Read the great garden writers to bring a new vitality and level of awareness to your gardening experience. Take time to carefully observe all the parts of your garden plants, not just the flowers and fruits. Don't bring the problems of day to day life into your gardening mind: concentrate on your immediate task, pay attention to what is immediately before you, focus only on your gardening. Treat your garden like a natural history museum, and act like a curator. Garden with passion, attention, and 110% of your spirit.

To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be enlightened by the ten thousand things.
- Zen Master Dogen

The more we understand individual things, the more we understand God.
- Benedict De Spinoza

God is in the details.
- Mies Van Der Rohe

Caress the detail, the divine detail.
- Vladimir Nabokov

Details are all there are.
- Maezumi Roshi

We think in generalities, but we live in details.
- W.H. Auden

If you take care of the little things, the big things take care of themselves.
- R. Reese

We work with the stuff of the soul by means of the things of life.
- Thomas Moore

Pay attention to minute particulars. Take care of the little ones.
Generalization and abstraction are the plea of the hypocrite, scoundrel, and knave.
- William Blake

The object of our lives is to look at, listen to, touch, taste things.
Without them, - these sticks, stones, feathers, shells, -
there is no Deity.
- R. H. Blyth, Zen in English Literature and Oriental Classics, p. 144.

When we look for things there is nothing but mind,
and when we look for mind there is nothing but things.
- Alan Watts, The Way of Zen, p 131

Great accomplishments are composed of minute details.
Those who succeed in attaining the Whole
have attended carefully to each tiny part.
Those who fail have ignored or taken too lightly
what they deemed to be insignificant.
The enlightened person overlooks nothing.

-   Han Shan Te'-ch'ing, 1600
    The Maxims of Master Han Shan Te'-Ch'ing
    Translated by Grandmaster Jy Din Shakya
    Cold Mountain Buddhas

Sunset Western Garden Book

Mon, 13 Jan 2003 14:35:23 GMT

West Coast gardeners can find few better reference books for their art than the newest Sunset Western Garden Book. It is edited by Kathleen Norris Brenzel. (Menlo Park, California, Sunset Publishing Company, 2001. Numerous indexes, charts, maps and illustrations in 768 pages. ISBN: 0376038748.)

I no longer read Sunset Magazine because it concentrates more on travel than gardening, and contains mostly advertising for expensive products, services, and tourist attractions. It does continue to have some articles about food, home and garden arts. As a hardcore gardener and gardening reader, I would rather subscribe to Shasta Gardening News.

The Sunset Western Garden Book, however, is a true classic. This must be the fifth edition of this important garden reference book. Over 8,000 plants are carefully described, accompanied by color illustrations and photographs. Entries include tips on planting and plant care. The entries are arranged by the Latin name, and two indexes provide access by the common English name and Latin names for the plants. A new directory of Western U.S. resources is a fine addition. Tips and techniques for becoming a better gardener are given everywhere in this reference manual.

I have seldom been to a nursery that does not have this book available for answering questions and providing needed information.

Winter gardening often, when the rain falls and falls, consists of browsing gardening catalogs and reading gardening books. Give me the Sunset Western Garden Book, a cup of hot tea, and electricity from Shasta Dam for light; and, hours of reading pleasure are sure to me mine.

Readings to Lift a Gardener's Spirits

Rain on Evergreens

Mon, 13 Jan 2003 02:01:02 GMT

A beautiful Sunday! Rain fell all day, raising the rain gauge to over 3" inches of rain in the last four days. A superb winter storm. We are well ahead of our 25 year average for the winter rainy season.

The grass is beginning to shake off its brown winter color and emerge with a fresh bright green color. It contrasts sharply with the duller green of the many background shrubs and trees (e.g., cypress, pine, redwood, fire thorn, junipers, etc.). The only non-green color in my front yard comes from the narcissus in bloom under the leafless white birch trees. The raindrops hanging on the dense foliage of the evergreens held my attention as I enjoyed my morning coffee and the cool wet air. The gentle rain had a calming effect.

Karen and I put on our rubber boots and walked the fields and gardens for an hour. We were surprised to find two shrubs with white blooms. The black cows watched us with a curious stare with ears pointed sideways.

Finished working on my Cold Mountain Buddhas webpage. It includes a very complete bibliography and links section, interesting portraits, and a variety of poems by both Han Shan (c 700) and Han Shan Te'-Ch'ing (c 1600) from many different translators.

I watched the Oakland Raiders defeat the New York Jets (30 to 10) in a semi-final playoff game at the Oakland Coliseum. It was a hard hitting game. Blood on the grass - but the blood of play. The Raider's passing game and the five turnovers taken by the defense were the difference. Having followed the Raiders since 1998, when I moved to Northern California, this season has been exciting and pleasing for Raider's fans.

"Rain is grace; rain is the sky condescending to the earth;
without rain, there would be no life."
- John Updike

"Millions long for immortality who do not know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon."
- Susan Ertz

Water - Quotes for Gardeners

Gardening and Contemplation

Sat, 11 Jan 2003 23:03:19 GMT

Many serious minded women and men, spiritual seekers, have become advocates for gardening as an effective means to start and stay on the spiritual path. They are rediscovering a centuries old tradition of combining prayer, meditation, or silence with the daily efforts of hoeing, digging, watering, planting, harvesting, and pruning in their gardens. Even the quiet contemplation of the beauties and wonders of a garden, after a few hours of work in the garden, are sufficient for many to transport them into mystical reveries or provide profound insights.

Gardening satisfies many basic human needs. A garden offers protection for the home, a safe place for leisure time activities, and a haven for the mystically inclined. Gardening allows for personal participation, hands on involvement, and intimate earthly connections. Gardens provide a laboratory for learning about Nature, a homeground for the practice of the arts and sciences, and a sure method for understanding more about our world. Gardening satisfies our thirst for artistic and personal creativity, and allows us to unfold some of the mysterious layers of creation itself. We are free to create our gardens to reflect our own tastes and desires, free to explore the magnificent palette of colors and smells that a garden can offer, and freed from some of the cares and worries than bind our lives. Gardening can point to our true selves, help us grow a new identity, form our characters, and reflect our unique personalities. Our gardens shown our concern and love, provide a common ground for conversations and friendships with others, pat us on the back for a job well done, and are a enduring source for our affections towards Mother Nature. Gardening helps us relax, unwind, smile, and enjoy our moments of leisure in our busy lives. And for the gardener, in the end, as we open a husk of corn, or crack a walnut, or peel a potato, or slice a tomato ... we can satisfy the hunger and thirst that are our calling to Life.

"Gardening is an active participation in the deepest mysteries of the universe."
- Thomas Berry

"Cultivate the garden within."

"We may have to learn again the mystery of the garden: how its external characteristics model the heart itself, and how the soul is a garden enclosed, our own perpetual paradise where we can be refreshed and restored."
- Thomas Moore

"Indian monks were the first to choose the garden as the proper setting for their lives, which were devoted to the contemplation of the divine; but with a prophetic eye we may see that the garden will often be dedicated in a like manner: at a later time Greek philosophers, and monks in early Christian days, will retire into their gardens for united, yet silent, contemplation."
- Marie Luise Gothein, A History of Garden Art, 1928, p.50

Spirituality and Gardening

Pass the Potatoes

Tue, 31 Dec 2002 20:35:33 GMT

"Of the two thousand or so species in the bulging genus Solanum, about 170 are tuber-bearers. Of the tuber-bearers, only eight are routinely cultivated and eaten by people, and most of these have stuck pretty close to home in the Andes of Peru. Only one has reached international stardom: S. tuberosum, commonly known as the potato. The potato probably originated in Peru, where indications are that it was domesticated over six thousand years ago by high-altitude-dwelling ancestors of the Incas."

Blue Corn and Square Tomatoes: Unusual Facts about Common Garden Vegetables.
By Rebecca Rupp. Garden Way Publishing 1987.

Francisco Pizarro found the potato in Ecuador and brought them to Spain in the early sixteenth century. By 1633, John Gerard's Herball included a whole chapter on the potato.

Peeling potatoes
before the party -
closing the year.

Cheers for the Incas!

For a few more quotes about vegeatables and links please visit:
Vegetables - Quotes for Gardeners