Here are three ferns in the woods along Phil’s Camino. One is dead and broken from last season. But two are fresh and new and unfolding on this Easter morn!

Yes Roncesvalles, siree Bob, what a stretch that is! I am thinking that is where our pilgrims Catherine and Dana are at this very moment as it is 1720 there Spanish time and they left St John this morning. Oh baby, that is some place for body, mind and spirit to be.

Here I sit eating breakfast of fresh eggs from C and D’s chickens. And we have a beautiful bottle of French wine that we are going to celebrate with when they get back to the neighborhood. Gals you are in our thoughts and prayers, today, right now!

So, the other major happening is that it is Easter morn and a heavy load has been lifted from us. Just like getting to a meal and bed at Roscevalles where we are too tired to care for ourselves and these gifts are there for us. Be thankful, love, Felipe.

Dear Ones,
There is snow on the pass but we believe we can cross. Kate & Mark & Dana survey the weather. All is good. Thank you for your love and support. We carry each of you with us. So, we’ll be off then.
xoxo Catherine & Dana

(Sorry, somehow cannot include pic. Felipe)

Yup, just this morning for the first time the swallows are back swooping over Phil’s Camino showing us that Spring is here! They always catch me off guard and it is such a great event in that way. Buddy Steven-O was writing to me about rhubarb, the plant, and I went out to My Rebecca’s garden to take a pic of her plants and show their robust growth. So, in the process of taking that little walk outside in my PJ’s I look up to see that the swallows have returned. Surprise surprise.

So, half an hour before I need to be geared up and walking on the trail. Who will come this AM? It’s always sort of a surprise situation and then maybe no one. But the trail is always ready for us, that I know.

OK, I am back to you. The weather turned cloudy and rainy since. I tried to get a hold of my friend the birder to get the exact species of these swallows that showed up. Didn’t answer his phone so he is probably out in search of a burrowing owl, I’m guessing.

Just listening to Angela, a friend of Annie’s talk about prayer and actually pray for folks calling in. She has a great way and very rich perspective. Rich is the word that keeps popping up. Maybe we will talk with her or about her in the near future.

One more thing that I want to get to and that is what Catherine and Dayna are up to. They left for Spain/France/St John on April 1st so they should be wrestling with the Pyrenees any second now. Am waiting for an email from them. Do they have my address? Hmm, good question.

OK, onward here coping with Good Friday. Man, just got the idea of wrestling with the Pyrenees on Good Friday. I better quit whining. Love, wherever you are and whatever you are doing, Felipe.

Listening to Sam Ccoke and the Soul Stirrers sing “I’m A Pilgrim”. Just got an email in from buddy Steve-O about the wine at the last Supper:

http://www.vivino.com/news/searching-for-the-wine-from-the-last-supper

Felipe.

It is Good Thursday and I am an emotional basket case. I am getting an early start this year. Have been taking Good Friday off for years to keep away from the saws and other tools of the trade. I’m just too distracted with thoughts of our Savior’s Passion.

But maybe I can pull off a nice post about things far away. Here we go! Lucia, one of my Camino buddies is from Sicily but for many years has taught at St Andrews in Scotland. In my mind those two places are world’s apart. And as picturesque as the north country is, she escapes occasionally to walk in Italy on famous trails there. On March 19th I blogged on this last trip but today we continue because I now have some gorgeous pics from her.

Gorgeous, right!?! These guys flew into Florence and walked A three day stretch west of there. This Tuscany. OK, I’m just going to copy her very own words from a recent email:

“Came back yesterday night, from a 3 days walking with 10 camino buddies. We started from Lucca and yesterday we arrived in San Gimignano. There are still 3 of us that are walking till Siena.
It has been just beautiful. Differently from the walk we did in January on the Way of the Coast in Liguria, the Francigena is mostly organized like the Santiago’s way. There are not that many pilgrims on the way during these days… probably in the next weeks with the good weather it will be busier. Anyway, it has been just fantastic for the landscape (Tuscany is just amazing) and even for the way how the hospitaleros had us in their places. It is still a bit different from the Santiago’s one where you can go without booking anyting. Here you have to do it, even there are hostels for pilgrims.
Here there are some pictures… one with all of us and the rest about the way, just to give you an idea!”

Well, there you have it, the adventures of Lucia. Aren’t Camino buddies so precious? No need to answer that question. Oh, and Lucia is the woman in the pics with the darkest hair.

Thanks for being with us here at Caminoheads. We treasure your participation and friendship. The best to you during this Easter season. Know that you are loved, Felipe.

Good question to ask once in a while. As I sit here in the waiting room at the Cancer Institute I am listening to a lady who is on the phone speaking Polish. I don’t know what she is saying but I am enjoying the sound of it. My mother and aunts talked Polish when they were together when I was a kid, it brought me back.

I’m not getting treatment today but came with a friend, Jennifer, who is. She is new at the game and I thought that I could help her navigate and possibly even find some fun here. We blew bubbles from the balcony here and tried to get them on the people on the street below. It was a good start.

Now we are in the treatment center and J is all hooked up to the buzzing and humming machines. And a friend of her’s showed up also, so we are talking. There is something interesting about being here as a visitor. I don’t really have to be here but I am. But if you are having fun does it matter where you are?

We are in a nice section of the treatment center, in the corner with windows out two ways. And this is where there is a planter outside one of the windows that contains a thicket of bamboo where the hummingbirds hang out during the winter. Remember I blogged about it. Something about a fat little hummingbird. But I don’t see her today. I wonder what she is doing?

There is the March issue of Time magazine that I just saw here that reminds me to write something to you. There are two ladies on the cover and they have similar cancers and the story is about how they live in different cities and they are getting different treatments options. Options are good and Seattle is a great place to be for options. If you are in Alaska or eastern Washington you would come here to get good treatment. I have to be reminded of this when I start whining about my little short ferry ride.

Jennifer and her friend are carding wool here now. Steve my buddy came one time with a pile of pad locks and we picked them to keep ourselves occupied. Fun at the hospital is where you find it.

We are going to blast out of here pretty quick. Time to get back to the island before the storm comes. Seeing clouds built up ou the big picture windows. The best to you, love, Felipe.

So sorry, didn’t get a pic but was having too much fun to think of it. My Rebecca and I hosted tapas and dinner tonight for three great folks. And it was warm enough to be our first outside meal of the season. A memorable occasion.

Well, who was there Felipe? First, Dayna and Catherine (with a C) were here for one of their last meals before boarding the big silver bird to Spain and St John, the start of the Camino Frances! I am so jealous. And they have enough time and money to do the whole thing. Way cool. They are excited and we are excited for them, obviously. They will be sending emails which we will publish here. This is the Springtime Camino and you will be able to see/hear what that looks like. I am so jealous!

Then, then, Esther was here. We have been awaiting her arrival to kick off her three month stay here on Vashon. We will make sure to get you as much as possible from her as the season progresses. She is very knowledgeable about all things Camino. I am so excited!

I don’t have her facts and timeline complete but she has traveled the Way three times over the years. The first time in 08, the hard way, as in carrying all her gear and staying in the beloved albergues. After that she started to write a book for preteens and walked,bused and taxied through twice to get her facts straight for her writing.

My Rebecca, Kelly and I had the opportunity to read the manuscript of her book. Somewhere back there in my archives is a blog post about that I am sure. But anyway, we have known and loved her book for a while now. And that goes for her too.

Yea, so we were all together for two hours excitedly talking Camino from all angles. We talked about gear and traveling light which these gals have a handle on. I even advised them to take a couple dressy things, which threw them after all my advice about paring down. Their packs are so light that I think they can afford it and you never know when you have to meet with the Bishop. And we talked albergues and hotels. And we talked about surprises and miracles. I think they are ready.

Also they took my little light weight map of the trail that I carried. And my poles are going across with Art in May. All fun. I just know that we all enjoy reliving our Camino experiences one way or another. Relive on, love, Felipe.

A few weeks ago we had a lovely visiter to our backyard Camino. It was just before the film crew got here so it got lost in that flurry. But back to the Reverend Bonnie Barnard who stopped to see us and walk and talk with me. I don’t quite how to introduce her other than to say she is a friend, and that is enough around these parts.

Our walk was one in which we were arm and arm in short order, just like the Camino ideal. Or talk had the kind of depth, honesty and richness that we all strive for. Sometimes things are just easy.

So, I just want to put in a good word for her and her new mission in Scottdale, AZ. She is opening a new spiritual center there and we are praying for her sucess in this outreach. I don’t know dates, addresses or details but she has a website to get all that. So, I don’t know if we have AZ readers to this blog but maybe.

Big coming and goings here today. Esther Jantzen is back from a winter in New Mexico and will be here for tapas. Then Katherine and Dayna will be here to walk this morning and they are flying out to THE Camino on Wednesday. And we have our finger on this pulse for you.

Father Marc in his homily yesterday had the phrase, “our cockroach hope” which is sticking in my memory and coming up now. I don’t know where that fits in exactly but we will figure it out. What is our cockroach hope here at Caminoheads?

So, the start of a new week, a big week, Holy Week. Make it happen for yourself. Yes yes yes loves, Felipe.