Daryl of the Pines

Very nice. I tend to read non-fiction more than fiction. Any particular topics you focus on? Glad to hear yoga, interviews, and the rest are going well for you. My wife really got into Handmaid's Tale. I've watched a little...seems very good, but I'm choosing not to get into it right now. Maybe in another time and place, where the phrase "yeah, that will never happen here" feels more honest.

Patu, phase 3. After further sanding, getting smoother. Now to go to a finer grit. Hopefully it will be completed after tomorrow, since I have the day off. My wife and I were discussing how rather innocuous the patu looks, especially when compared to some of the other destructive crap I like to play with (tomahawks, homemade spears, etc). She came up with the idea of carrying a ping pong ball with it wherever I go, giving me an easy and harmless explanation for it. And if really pressed, I could say something to the affect of, "ok ok...it's really for, you know, the kinky stuff...yeah, you know. You into that?" At which point, I'm going to assume most people in a social situation will seek the most expedient escape.

Perfection in imperfection.

Sounds like things are going pretty well. I take it MFA is Masters of Fine Arts?

End of challenge appears to be sneaking up fast. How is everyone feeling?

So I'm a bit late with an update. Again. It's been a busy week, as usual. But I continue to hit all my marks with meditation and running. I think I am fast approaching the point where I can increase my running to twice a week. My calves seem to be adapting and recovering quite well from the barefoot style of running. I have also kept at my wood-working experiments. While I haven't made any further progress on the atlatl, I have been working on some more approachable and beginner friendly projects. One is a replica of a patu, a small war club traditionally used by the Maori of New Zealand. Typically the Maori would have made there patu out of a stone such as jade, whalebone, or an incredibly dense hardwood. I have opted for oak, simply because I had some on hand. Still, oak is reasonably durable, and if nothing else it's a good practice run for making a later one out of something like hickory or mahogany. I have a couple of pictures, the first after I cut out the basic shape and the second after much rasping and sanding. More sanding is to be done before it's truly ready. Luckily, I have a long weekend to complete this. The second project I worked on was making a new mallet for a small singing bowl I recently acquired. The mallet it came with was ok, but obviously of a lighter wood and mass-manufactured. So I carved a replacement out of a piece of oak I found in the woods. It is much heavier and more dense, and makes a better sound. I'm quite happy with out it turned out. It's shaping isn't perfect, but that's what makes it perfect, cracks and all. The picture is a bit dark, but one can see the mallets quite well. The mallet on the left is the original that came with the bowl, the mallet on the right is the one I carved.

Last night I did my run quite late in the evening. Normally I would go the Y about 8:00, no later than 9:00, so I can usually get a run in and at least minimal time in the sauna afterwards (which closes at 9:30). Last night I got on the track at 9:45, so no sauna afterward, and only gave my 15 minutes until closing. But I made good use of it, and it was all I really needed. I'm still not up to running much more than 1 mile anyway with this new barefoot running technique. This time I managed 1.3 miles. Because of the time constraint I skipped the warm up and stretch, which is a hell of a risk to take. So I made sure to take it easy on myself for the first few laps. The gamble worked, no serious adverse affects. I just took my time to stretch and have a good soak in the bath afterward. I haven't gotten around to making any further progress on the atlatl/ woomera. It is one of the bigger projects I'm working on, and the work is generally a bit noisy and better done outside. Last night I worked on a few smaller projects instead. I made a couple traditional-ish blowgun darts, simply be sticking strips of faux fur on a bamboo skewer. The blowgun is not remotely traditional, simply being a tube of CPVC. But it will suffice until I can figure out how to make a decent bamboo blowgun. And the darts worked great! And relatively easy to build. It's a good starting point anyway. Eventually I will further fasten the fur to the dart by wrapping thread around it. In the future, I plan to make some darts with hardwood (possibly oak), so that I can carve a more elaborate point. I'm finding the blowgun enjoyable because it's something I can safely do indoors and in the backyard. And it's something I have been able to get my 7 yr old into, in a safe manner. The 1/2 in CPVC is a good size for launching electrical twist-connects as a sort of blunt-dart, and she enjoys it very much. No construction needed if you just want to jump right into it. Just put the connecter in one end of the pipe, and let it fly! Another aspect of the blowgun I just considered is that it would be good breath training, or a good way to compliment and APPLY other breath training from qigong, yoga, and meditation. I might look into some stuff about training lung capacity and breathing power, to get the most out of the blowgun.

Just meditation today. Feeling a bit "blah" after work, like all my bandwidth has been used up. Hopefully I will be up to a little more tomorrow. The atlatl thrower is coming along fine, but I would like to also start on the atlatl dart. I believe I have enough components to make two darts.

Hey, just wanted to say...you are awesome. You have a lot on your plate. Yet you still made it a priority to meditate, walk the dogs, not to mention the whole no sugar thing. I mean...holy crap! Self-denial, well that's superhuman level of priority-making right there! And if that wasn't enough, you took the time to post about it here. In my book, this is kicking ass. Keep holding on to those positive thoughts...the realization that even though are feeling bad about a lot of things, are also feeling pretty good about things. That is resilience. A friend of mine at my work is one of our trainers in resiliency, and he often makes the analogy of thoughts being like fishing in a stream. You don't control what comes down the stream. You might throw your line in, and hook a big ugly carp. You get to decide what to do with that thought...or carp. You can throw it back, let it go. And the next carp. Until you hook a delicious trout. Hang onto the trout. Let go of the carp, hang onto the trout. The stream keeps flowing, so there will always be another opportunity to hook that nice trout or salmon. Let it come to you.

We make it so in our little corners of the world, and hope it spreads. Even if it doesn't, at least we have our pleasant little space.

So far the atlatl construction is going well. The design I'm going for is more like the Australian woomera, a traditional spear thrower used by aboriginal peoples. I decided on this design because it appears to simple be one solid piece of wood, with quite a lot of wood carving involved. Other designs I'm sure work very well, but appear to be less of a carving project and more of a construction project (adding leather throngs, tying on additional pieces, etc). I'm quite enjoying wood carving, so this is what I have opted for. I have my overall shape done, chipped and carved (and in a few places sawed) from a plank of red oak. Next comes the time-consuming finer work. Still doing well with meditation, and exploring different ways of using my meditation phone app. I used to just use the timer with various background sounds or music. Now I am also exploring some of the guided meditations.

And I suppose the MP/ MAA types wouldn't be to keen on doing it unofficially. They aren't known for their understanding nature or sense of humor. Best of luck finding a solution. One thing you could try is the rabbit stick or throwing stick as an alternative to tomahawks. I would think they tend to attract a lot less negative attention in parks, lacking the sharp metal edges and all. Most people would probably assume you are just throwing a boomerang (that doesn't come back).

I didn't manage to get my run in on Thursday as planned, but I knocked it out this morning. Better late than never, and a good way to start the day. I've continued hitting the marks as far as meditation every day, with little bits of playing around with woodworking or tomahawk throwing. I'm not quite infatuated with the atlatl, and I plan to go hunting for components to start crafting one today. I think I will be starting with purchased components (red oak planks, poplar dowels) before I try crafting this from found/ harvested materials.

That depends on local laws on such things. Or if you are on a military base, I'm guessing it would be a firm "no." Maybe, just maybe, there are some dedicated ranges set up for such things? I've noticed "axe-throwing" indoor ranges have become a bit in style here in the U.S.

Thanks for posting the invite. But I must say...football is lame. Throw tomahawks instead.

Woodworking yesterday, rabbitstick and tomahawk throwing today. Running tomorrow. Meditation every day. So far, so good.

Not as epic as yours I suppose, though still pretty damned good. Hour-long meditation, that is extremely impressive. I take it the new initiatives are going well so far.

I started the day right with some meditation. While that fills my quota for the day, I plan to keep at it and end the day with more meditation. As far as physical activity, I think I had my fill over the weekend and during the work day (lots of travelling around, in and out of vehicles, homes, etc). Maybe tomorrow I will do more. I acquired some more material over the weekend for additional rabbit sticks, or other primitive contraptions. I'm sure I will do something with it soon.

How is everyone's first day of the challenge going?

I started the day right with about 20 minutes of guided meditation. And then I put some finishing touches on my Catawba-style rabbit stick. I gave it a few test throws against an archery target. Think I'll call that a kill.

I thought I'd put up a place for general chatter, as we appear to be lacking one at the moment. Feel free to gather 'round, and converse about...whatever. Sacred doesn't have to mean formal. Be as informal as you like. Just be kind. Kindness is what is sacred here. Admins, feel free to remove if this goes against any formal or informal policy (though I would humbly request a replacement general chat be put up).

Welcome aboard! The druid camp is a good place.

I really need to sort out my routine. A lot of my good habits have fallen by the wayside in recent weeks. Because, well...reasons. I really need to get back to my meditation routine. That has long been the foundation of everything, but I lost it in the mess. However, I picked up a new habit among the mess: running. More specifically, barefoot running (not literally barefoot, but with thin-soled shoes). It's been a slow process to build up the new skill, and I aim to keep building it at a slow pace, at least until my calves are up to taking on more. I've done running in the past, but not like this, with the barefoot style of running on the balls of your foot rather than the heel. Yes, a few aches and pains with the calves, as to be expected. But so far it's been good to me. I'm on a pause from tomahawk throwing at the moment, as a storm broke much of the target backstop. It was at a point where I have just torn it down with the aim to rebuild it, but I haven't done that yet because, well...reasons. In the meantime I've been focusing on woodcarving and whittling, another newfound habit. I've been whittling small things (owl, cactus), as well as carving some large things (rabbit sticks, and an eastern woodland war club that is still in progress). Throwing the rabbit sticks has somewhat filled the void of tomahawk throwing, at least until I cracked one of the sticks yesterday. Oh well. Easily replaced. So anyway, on to the specifics of the challenge. It's really quite simple. 1. Daily meditation. I must get this routine back. Yoga and/ or qigong can be done too, but not at the expense of sitting meditation. I need this. 2. Once per week barefoot running. Minimum of one mile, adding more distance as calves grow stronger and more resilient. That's it. Simple. Woodcarving and whittling, or tomahawk throwing, will happen as well, but I'm not tracking it as a part of the challenge. I just do that as the mood strikes me. And spend as much time outdoors, "with trees," as possible.

I'm very sorry to hear about the turmoil your ex is causing you. I shall send good thoughts your way, towards a positive outcome. I like that your challenge is a way of taking moments to focus things you have full control of right now (mindfulness, exercise, food intake). I do hope it gives you a solid foundation to tackle some of the big things at play. I would like to follow along on your journey. I'm in a place where I need to redouble my meditation efforts as well, and it's nice to see others are doing the same. I say surround yourself with people you want to be like.

I hope so too. This is inspiring me to try and redouble my meditation/ mindfulness efforts.