January fourth today. It started out pretty slow but it is picking up speed. I was pretty convinced that I would not be able to come up with a topic today on my own. So, I thought a Camino thought and I went with it. Knowing that everyone that you meet brings you a message I said that I will blog on the next person that I meet. Sounds like a plan.

So, my good buddy Stephen calls to say that he is over in Tacoma picking up some gear and he is going to swing by on his way home. There you go, Stephen it is. Stephen is a guy trained to be a chef and loves stuff outdoors. He is fun to take on hunting trips because he knows his way around a Dutch oven and a campfire. He also cooks big meals for events for our island sportmen’s club for hundreds of eager eaters. I learned a lot about cooking helping him with those events. Being around people that know what they are doing is an education.

So along comes Stephen today and he is bearing gifts. He knows that I have been passionate about cooking after being in Spain so he has cooking gifts. He brings some very nice olive oil and balsamic vinegar for me to play with. What a guy.

Back when I first got back home I expressed to Stephen why I came back with this passion for cooking. I said that I had a new appreciation for my friends and I wanted to show that. I wanted to show what we had felt on the trail. We were all passionate about each other and we were all passionate about our food, our calories, our fuel. And he looked at me and said, “Why do you think that I have been doing this for thirty five years?” OK, there it is.

Soupy love to you, Felipe.

January third it is. Not a day with a special name but still rich in leftovers and other benefits of the holidays. Rebecca and I are fighting with colds and a particular nasty type this year. So, here I am trying to dig around for something upbeat and inspirational and all I got so far is leftovers. Hmmm.

I’ll just have to dig deeper, hey? What do I have in my bag of tricks? One quote that will make due always is the old Jewish one, “This too shall pass.” But I could say, “Yea, well when?” Which brings up the idea that Laura brought up of the fact that we should practice Patience with a capital P. There is something vital to be learned through the practice of Patience.

My mind brings up the vision of the Coke machine along the foggy trail that we talked about recently. The Coke machine that we were talking about kicking because it wasn’t working fast enough. How do we get some perspective on the big picture so that we can develop a Patience that really has a calital P?
A Patience that will really serve us well.

Yea, all days aren’t ones of glory. What about these Janurary thirds that I spend with a bad cold? Can I learn something important here? Hmmm. Love, Felipe.

Well yea, I’m not that old but I feel like it today. I think that this cold is ganging up with my chemo side effects to produce the perfect storm. I’ll survive but am a mess today.

Maryka sent this lovely poem which I will put here for your enjoyment and call it good for today:

Let other mornings honor the miraculous.
Eternity has festivals enough.
This is the feast of our mortality,
The most mundane and human holiday…
The new year always brings us what we want
Simply by bringing us along—to see
A calendar with every day uncrossed,
A field of snow without a single footprint.

(Dana Gioia, 1950 – )

I am going to keep walking even though it will be one of those short days. See you tomorrow, love you, Felipe.

Hey, we made it gang! A milestone, a touchstone, a reason to celebrate it is. Time to turn over a new leaf or to continue on a good course that is already going or some of both maybe. Here we are. Guys made any resolutions?

How about, “Getting off the schnide (sp?)”. It is a baseball term that comes from something before it in the card game gin rummy and then from something before that in German/Yiddish. Needs more research. But in baseball it means getting off a scoreless streak or a hitless streak. Getting going to where you are supposed to be.

Last year was an incredible year for me and I feel like I got off the schnide big time. So I want to keep that going. I talked with Annie and Sister Joyce to ask, is it greedy of me to ask for a better year for 2015? They both said, no way, go for it. So, that is my resolution to make 2015 better than 2014!

I’m at the hospital today to get part of my treatment. This place never closes except Christmas Day. So I have to go in to get that accomplished. So let’s all get off the schnide or some reasonable facsimile if you haven’t got some resolution cooking already. Love you, Felipe.