Yea. So Alida sent me her favorite recipe for flan which I whipped out earlier today.  We just tried it and it was excellent and very different from the box stuff that I had been making before.   I am very proud of myself!  Haha.  Felipe.

I am thinking about the direction that this blog is headed.  What to do next.  Maybe what to do after that.  It’s a good thing and valuable but I feel a need for it to expand and deepen.  It’s all going to get better.

Still barely light here.  I like to blog early while everything is quiet.  Speaking of which this is opening day of deer hunting season here and I’m expecting to hear some shots any second.  It’s opened till the 31st of this month and I am planning on getting one in the freezer at some point soon.  High quality venison is one of our menu items.

But I am off to my weekly bible class in a few minutes so hunting will have to wait.  I cherish this time together with my bible guys so it is all good.  Signing off for now, you guys are the best, Love, Felipe.

Now there is a Kelly quality quote.  I came up with that.  Yea.  Maybe we will explore it’s meaning soon.  But for now I have to be brief.  I am walking in a few minutes and if I am lucky I will have some company.

Rebecca purchased a leather couch yesterday.  It is not new but  it is beautifully broken in,  burgundy color and very Spanish looking I think.   She is redoing the living room.  Thanks Rebecca.

I got a message from Anamaria and she is feeling better.  So, whatever you are doing, keep doing it for a while yet, please.  You guys are the best,  love, Felipe.

I’m off to a busy day in the big city so I need to talk with you now.  And I don’t know what to talk about really.  Ah but I do!

You know along the trail when one of us or anyone was having a  bad time, a bad stretch of personal road we would be there for them, no question.  Well our beloved Anamaria is having such a time right now.  Her personal road is hard because she, the wonderful girl, is heart broken over the death of her beloved friend.

We are all connected by bonds that we don’t always understand but regardless we feel them.  I am reminded of that old song “When There Is Something Wrong With my Baby There Is Something Wrong With Me”.  Please be there for Anamaria now in your own way.

Yes, what could be more important than that?  What are we here for if not to support each other on the Camino.  It still goes on, yes?  You’re the best, Felipe.

“I try to stay sober and then I see a beautiful flower.”  This is one of my thoughts that I wrote down on July 8th and just found.  This was before Spain.  I was already getting in the zone here on Vashon.

A good robust response to beauty is a beautiful thing, yes?  And I know that we all felt that because we all laughed AND cried all the way across that beautiful country where we were in and out of beautiful churches, and met beautiful people and had beautiful surprises.  That looks all good to me.  Love, Felipe.

Somewhere along the trail Rick picked up the nickname Quick.  Pretty cool huh?  I think that came from the film crew’s creative depths.   And he was and is quick for sure.

Rick is from here on Vashon Island.  Kelly trained with him a lot and I trained with him some before Spain.  I say some because it was harder for me to join Rick because of scheduling.  And one time the three of us did get to walk together which was hilarious to the max.  Those guys are soooo funny together that there were times that I could bearly do the one foot in foot of the other thing.

But in Spain we were never together like that either.  Kelly was with me for the mountains and the Meseta and then Rick was with me from Samos Monastery westward to Santiago.  I was blessed to have them both for they kept me organized and moving in their own ways.

Rick’s way was to help me by figuring out the lodging for us which was problematic in the last 100 km due to the robust flow of pilgrims.  He enlisted his daughter Maryka, who speaks good Spanish, to help with cell calls out to potential places.  We even stayed at a dairy farm one night that he engineered.  Rick to the rescue!

One day we walked a long way to a town that we thought had bunks but was full up and we walked on another ten km to the next town. It turned out to be our longest day, 35 km, I think.  But  anyway Quick hiked ahead  to that town, left his pack and came back to help me.  And he carried my pack the last 1 1/2 kilometers.  What a guy.  Rick to the rescue once again!

And so now I have realized that something has rubbed off on me from Rick, and actually from Kelly and Sherif too and that is  I am now cooking.   Yea, as in guys cooking and I am pretty excited about it too.  So thanks Rick for being a part of that inspiration for me.

Well, I have to get this published since it has already taken me more than one day.  Guess that I could blame it all on the Seahawks game last night or the fog on the water this morning that slows the ferry to a crawl.  Or I did have technical difficulties also with the iPad.   Just little obstacles on my daily walk.  You’re the best, Phil.

Walking schedule:

Friday October 10th 0900-1000.

Sunday October 13th 1000-1100.

Monday October 14th 0900-1000.

(this is here at my place, just show up, we will maybe get Wednesday mornings going soon)

I don’t know how many times that Kelly saved my sorry butt on the Camino in Spain.  I owe him so much and he was the perfect partner on our journey.   Just one example, he   always said that we were Slow and Steady.  Here on Vashon in training I was faster then he was so I got the nick name Steady.  Then somewhere in Spain we switched and he  took over being Steady.   Let’s say that we complemented each other  beautifully.

Thank you Kelly for the help that you gave.  Thank you for your friendship.  Thank you for your smiles.  Thank you for your “Kelly’s Quotes of the Day”.  And maybe most important, helping me deepen my faith.  You’re the best buddy, thanks for putting up with me.

Love, Phil.

Walking Schedule:

Sunday, today –  1000-1100

Monday, tomorrow – 0900-1000

Friday – 0900-1000.

I had a hard time arriving at a topic today.   Not because I didn’t have one really but because I had too many.  One of those days.  So I decided to go random and look at my collection of pix and see if one jumped out at me and build on that somehow.

You know that’s Kelly on the right and me in the back and then there is Gracie.  Now Gracie beside being a most wonderful human being and awesome dilly dallier has as you can readily see a world class smile!  I know that she is going to give me grief for talking about her but just look.  That right there ladies and gentlemen, is the kind of  smile that can change the weather.  My personal theory is that she was born smiling and then improved on that somehow.  Thank you Gracie for so generously sharing  your time with all of us and, yes, your smile.

So yea, the trail is said to be full of surprises and she was one of them for sure.  But every day is different and every kilometer is different and the cast of characters changes but it is all just another day on the Camino as they say.  Love you guys, Phil.

Zowie!  I found another half dozen wine glasses that are the same as our set that was down to three since I so handily broke that last one.    And  I forget the description on the box that they came in but it was something like oversized or wide or grande or over the top.  I like the idea of that.  If we are going to dilly dally  let’s be generous about it all, don’t you think?  Love, Phil.

Morning here, second cup of coffee.  Just feel the need to chat and catch up a little.  Yesterday I was going to talk about Spanish cooking but I didn’t have the time and I put it off till evening and I got too sleepy.  So, to continue on, I wanted to tell you that I have this new passion for cooking and really cooking in the style that we enjoyed along the Camino.  Nothing fancy but wholesome.  I’m not reading recipes but cooking ingredients from the garden and what is available locally in stores in Spanish style.  Just having fun with it.

But regarding recipes, I must mention that my Rebecca has produced wonderful tortilla Española.  And I have screwed around with flan as you will remember.  Alida, was supposed to send me her recipe for flan and I am waiting on that.  Alida?

In other news I am beginning conversation with a priest from along the Camino via email.   That is pretty exciting and we will see what we can learn from him.   All good.

Ok, I just learned that I have to catch the 10:15 ferry so I have to cut this dilly-dally short for now but we have forever for that, right?   Love,  Phil.