I know that I am late today. Too many things going on I guess. This morning I was over to Tacoma for a meeting of American Pilgrims. Always good to be around Camino people, Caminoheads.

But, yesterday Henry came out to see us, a Caminohead for sure. He is one of the sons of a minister that used to be out here on Vashon in the little community church that Rebecca and I attended. The dear man passed away from cancer four years ago. So, the whole family is dear to us.

Henry, two years after his father’s death decided to go and do the Camino Frances. This was 2013, in September/October. He did the complete walk and then on to the coast.

So, we had lunch out here at the ranch and walked on the trail here and gabbed about things Camino. What could be more fun. It would take a couple more posts to cover all the ground that our conversation covered in a few hours here. And you know stuff gets personal so quickly but I will mention a few things.

One, was Henry received a challenge from a fellow pilgrim to put the whole Camino into one word. Wow, there is a challenge. Henry chose the word “generous”. I like that a lot. What would your word be? I’ve got to think a while.

I was really impressed by Henry’s “the Camino will provide” attitude. Maybe it’s me but I am sort of fed up with people’s tendency to over plan. Maybe I have been hanging out with older folks who tend to be that way. Just refreshing to have someone who is not interested in over insulating himself from the experience. Yea.

Well, there is a parallel going on with the American Pilgrim’s meetings that I have been attending. Newcomers show up to get questions answered and learn. I was the same way I guess. But they generally have a whole set of questions that just sort of miss the whole point of the Camino. What I see are three categories of questions. One, since it is an athletic event what kind of gear do I need to perform well? Two, since it is away from cities how do I insulate myself from those realities? Three, since I can’t seem to exist without all my e-gadgemts, how can I get all this stuff to work over there?

There’s that and then there are the veterans at the meeting. They just seem to have a certain twinkle in their eye and a certain casualness and a certain confidence. They generally tell the newbies to relax and enjoy the ride. Love you as always, Felipe.