Along with Jennifer and the change in schedule comes the brand new Sunday afternoon walk here at Phil’s Camino. The Wednesday afternoon walk has been really popular so we are adding this PM walk to maybe get more folks here. Of course the 4 o’clock walk slides right into the 5 o’clock tapa hour which may be the big reason for the attraction. Either way, as long as we talk it will be productive, right?
I am planning on putting in some hours today on my corn, which really needs it. Have to cultivate and water. I am so happy to worry over my little corns these days.
So, nothing much happening here today, which is nice. Hope to talk with you soon, Felipe.
The corn is calling me to get out there and see it today. It’s nice to worry about it the way I do. It feels like a worthwhile thing to do.
I’m worn out today, no way around it. Fatigue from the chemo treatment it is. Sometimes it is worse than others. Just have to pace myself and deal with it.
Nice that Pilgrim Farmer Juan checked in. I was missing his take on things. His comments add so much to the conversation.
Steve-O is back also. He has started a new job which is very demanding so his comments are not so common around these parts. He has great energy also.
And of course Mary Margaret is checking in again to keep us on track. And we are looking forward to her reporting on her Camino trek later this season. She is going from Leon to Santiago, the portion that she missed last summer.
And Cherry is in Sydney and being sassy. She was talking about doing some blogging for the Camino Documentary maybe, I forget the exact details. She is always good for insights and excitment.
Then Annie will be with us in between her responsibilities. The film is rapidly approaching it’s flaming crescendo, I have heard. Everything good on that front.
Maybe we will hear from Anamaria in Madrid. She is swamped with work but doing well. Maybe the other Angels, Alida and Laura, will come by.
The conversation is ongoing and vital and important. We need all of you and more to make this happen. It’s a wonderful day in the neighborhood, love, Felipe.
I’m up on a ladder in my PJ’s getting this pic of My Rebecca’s climbing rose, just for you.
Dana sent this in to us last night, just like a timely TGIF. Thank you Dana.
It’s not magic; it isn’t a trick.
Every breath is a resurrection.
And when we hear the poem
Which is the world, when our eyes
Gaze at the beloved’s body,
We’re reborn in all the sacred parts
Of our own bodies:
the heart
Contracts, the brain
Releases its shower
Of sparks,
and the tear
Embarks on its pilgrimage
Down the cheek to meet
The smiling mouth.
~ Gregory Orr ~
(Concerning the Book that is the Body of the Beloved)
Ah yes, laughing and crying simultaneously, a situation that I first encountered on the Camino. Thanks again Dana, Felipe.
A beautiful rhododendron outside our window at the treatment center. Nice.
Well, we tried it out yesterday for our chemo treatment day at Swedish Cancer Institute. We as in Jennifer and myself. We are both here on Vashon Island and it was just a matter of time before the island grapevine got us together. And we do what Islanders do when faced with the big city, we car pool. And actually it is beyond that to a budding buddy system relationship. We found that we had the same docs and treatment pathway but she was being treated one week and I was on the next week. Anyway with a little help from folks at the hospital I changed my schedule to hers and now we can team up on it.
Also what is important about this is that I am been doing this for going on four years and have grappled with many things that I can hopefully coach her on. And visa versa she is seeing the situation with new eyes and coming up with some new angles. ( just listening to my Soul music and Laura Lee just had a line that might be apropos, “I’m going to slap him in the face with the unexpected!” Putting cancer in it’s place!). Jennifer is just starting with chemo and this is a totally freaky prospect. It’s all so foreign and difficult. I am happy that I have some extra energy at this point to help out in some small or large way, who knows.
And with me at this point the endeavor of keeping the cancer to a dull roar is an endurance race at best. Being able to keep my health in other areas to give me a strong base to work from is important. And then to be able to keep one step ahead of the chemo side effects and carry on is important. Then to keep the whole person, me, intacted with the help of prayer and advisors and strong family. This blog is part of it also. I have a mission with the Camino and you the Caminoheads to help keep things burning that gives me a focus and helps keep me alive. Thanks for reading and being here for me and Jennifer.
Yes, but the world is chock full of different realities. This was just a little glimpse into this little backwater. Good luck with your struggle where you are. Buddy system loves, Felipe.
Tapas at Raven Ranch. I took this shot.Esther took this one.
We might be lacking in other areas but putting out and devouring tapas is taken care of. I know that it is almost ancient history but way back in this blog I had quite a bit of material tapa related. And we are still doing it in style.
Yesterday Esther joined us. She has traveled the Camino Frances three times and is currently writing a book on the topic for young readers. Then Catherine and Dana were here to regale us with fresh stories and insights. They are doing the reentry thing which is challenging and rewarding and we were avidly listening.
So we are walking with the next date being tomorrow 0900-1000. Hope to see you sometime soon, add to the conversation. Love, Felipe.
We are barreling ahead, here there and everywhere. Annie just emailed that she and the music people are getting together today to record a piece that will go over the credits on Phil’s Camino, the movie. Yea, the movie! Coming soon. It ‘s been a long birthing process but a miracle in it’s own right. Thank you Annie, thank you all, thank you Saint James.
I’ve got to barrel ahead and finish up a job this morning. We have an afternoon walk and tapas afterward today. This is on the new walking schedule. Will repeat the schedule below. Yea, Jennifer and I will be off for our treatments tomorrow, the buddy system.
Ok, the best to you all. Get out there and stir the pot, move it all along. Love your stuff, Felipe.
Sunday we finally got Sister Joyce, my spiritual advisor, to come and see Phil’s Camino. Jennifer was here to help me host her. Basically we enjoyed each other talking away. Then I thought that we should show Sister Joyce the trail and she said that she couldn’t walk that far. So, Jennifer got this great idea to have her ride the mower around for a half mile, which she did. Check out these pix. She is such a good sport!
Our beloved Sister Joyce.Phil and SJ in the north pasture.Racing through the woods. This is why she gets the big bucks!Jennifer, our Safety Officer, making sure we didn’t hurt ourselves. Would hate to have to explain that to the Archbishop.
Let me mention the new walking schedule here. Please come and walk with me, with us. Monday 0900-1000
Tuesday 1600-1700
Thursday 0900-1000
Sunday 1600-1700
Well, I’m pretty beat after all the Memorial Day activities that went on today. Just having a little tomato beer and watching some baseball. OK, catch you tomorrow, love, Felipe.
Sorry about no post yesterday, that very seldom happens. Just a little too much happening. But off to a steady start this morning.
Off to Mass, walking a few laps, off to the cemetery to help put up 500 flags on vet’s graves. I need to get those accomplished to get to my afternoon with Sister Joyce. She is finally going to come over to see the Camino.
Know that I am thinking of you and praying that your day will be fruitful. Always remember that you are loved. The road goes on but we know how to do that. Take care, Felipe.
It’s tapa time here at Raven Ranch with our neighbors fresh back. They are bubbling over with stories of the Camino. A little miracle here and a little miracle there. Rain going sideways here and walking in the fog there. No room in the albergue here and gosh I was sick there. Swimming in the ocean, meeting people, remeeting people, all good to the end. Felipe.
And what more perfect place to re-enter than Raven Ranch with Phil and Rebecca and a glass of wine and tapas. The blessings continue. Buen Camino in my heart always. Dana
We were blessed to have met you Phil, to have been mentored by you (take care of your feet) hosted by you and Rebecca before, and now after… it is so good to be home and yet some part of us is still rising and dressing, lacing boots and shouldering packs and walking, and walking, and walking, and so it shall be for the rest of our lives as it always was – we just didn’t know it. Catherine.
Our Camino buddies Catherine and Dana will be here later today. We are walking in the morning from 9 to 10, if you want to join us. Then tapas at 5 PM. So I will blog from tapas later with the gals fresh back from Spain.
Jennifer came over for tapas last evening. It is fun to sit outside on the deck on these evenings. Hard to imagine winter and the rain and the dark of a few months ago. You have to live in the Northwest to really get that.
Anyway, the important thing is that she brought this little baggie with some sprigs of a new mint that I have never seen or tasted before. As a new cook I thought it was nice. Just a little gift from the herb garden. Just another form of beauty to enjoy. I have been concentrating on visual beauty lately with all the wonderful blooms of spring and Jennifer comes in with this little baggie of something different. I like it, thanks Jennifer.
All right, be back later. Maybe we will pass the iPad around like we did a at tapas in Spain. Just trying to capture the moment. Make it happen, love, Felipe.
