From advice and urging from Pilrim Farmer John, hailing from Iowa, the corn capitol of the universe, I am picking my corn a little earlier than I would normally.  He cringed when he read that I was waiting for my corn to ripen.  He thinks that the way to do it is to eat it before it gets to far along.  So that flavored my thinking (nice pun huh?) today and I went ahead and picked four ears which we had for lunch the check and then a dozen for the stand just to get things started.  So we are doing it!  And this was the day that I predicted that sales would start and thanks to PFJ we are right on schedule.

Catherine had the idea to have a corn countdown which we did.  10 days, 9 days and so on to today.  Maybe next year if I am still around I’ll have some placards with those numbers on them to put out by the road.  That would be fun.

Yup, pretty near cornperfect around here.  So putting a wrap on our Friday.  See you tomorrow, love, Felipe.

I know you are probably tired of hearing about this topic but the excitement here is high level.  I made this prediction that the sale begins tomorrow.  Will that happen?  It is trying like mad to be ready I assure you.

So one year ago we were on the trail, on the Camino de Santiago de Compostella.  It was that first stage where we getting the hang of the routine.   Learning about taking care of the feet and other important matters.  Learning how to jettison gear that wasn’t ‘t vital.  Learning how to deal with the heat although it would get worse.  Seeing amazing old churches and sites.  Meeting amazing people with amazing stories.  Getting a chance to share our own story.  Encountering the natural beauty of Spain.  Meeting the Spanish people.  Meeting people from all over the world.  Getting a chance to help fellow travelers as you let them help you.  Learning to trust the Camino, that it would provide.  Learning what quaint really means.   Seeing what fifty eagles looks like.   Spending time. Spending time with yourself, with folks, with God or just spending time.

I could go on I suppose but you get the picture.  Would I go again in a minute?  Would you go with me?  Food for thought as they say, love you immensely, Felipe.

The high point of our walk yesterday was a bunch of us had a sculpture lesson at the studio of artist Michael Magrath, a Michelangelo moment.  Jennifer arranged this event for a birthday gift for her buddy Heather and we were included to amp up the fun.  Playing with clay, yea.  Check the pic, that is Michael on the right.

That was three hours and the old story how time flies.  I could do that for another three years really, where do I sign up?  He has weekly sessions that folks attend.  Sounds like a good wintertime activity.

Today I am off to work to hammer some nails.  Also, keeping the stand supplied with available produce.   Friday is the big day to start corn sales, well hopefully.  I think we have enough out there to sell for two to three weeks, if the raccoons don’t attack.  I may sleep out there in my tent if I get too nervous about them.

Bird and rabbit hunting starts September first and am starting to think about that.  That means a road trip to Eastern Washington to the Middle of Nowhere, my favorite place.  My favorite location had a big wildfire two years ago, this time of year.  Was back there once and am waiting on it to rebuild.   Speaking of wildlife, the deer are here outside the kitchen window, mom and two fawns.

Just planning on an ordinary kind of day today but who knows right?  We all know about plans.  Thinking of you there, love, Felipe.

We had some thunder and and half inch of rain last afternoon and evening.  Now it is sunny.  I walked this morning and enjoyed the peacefulness.    It ‘s  like boredom at the emergency room, that would be a good thing.

I’ m mailing off some packages to Spain.  My three Angels from the Camino will soon all be living there, one in Barcelona and two in Madrid.  So I sent them some Northwest Catholic Magazines with yours truly on the cover and the maps of Phil’s Camin

o.

Just recently received a copy of a little book that eight of us Camino walkers wrote, a chapter apiece.  Laura from Barcelona was the orchestrator of that.   It is entitled Hotel California.  That was fun.

Kelly is back from Spain or will be shortly.  It is always fun to see him and he will be bringing news.  I’ll get you the report on that.

Rebecca and I get to do something really fun this afternoon.  We got invited along with a small group to play at a famous artist’s studio here on Vashon.  Jennifer set this all up for us.  We get three hours there to get creative.  Will fill you in on that tomorrow.

Yes, an uneventful morning has just passed but sometimes that is so enjoyable.  Take care where you are, love, Felipe.

I am so glad that I had my sidekick Camino Catherine with me today at Mass.  When one commits a major false step it is good to have Caminoheads close in.  Let me discribe the situation.

Father Marc gave a bang  up homily on synchronicity, one of the favorite Caminohead topics of all time.  He was doing great and weaving it in with what was happening today at the parish.  This particular Sunday is the annual Salmon Bake which has been going on for 55 years.  Lots of good chow celebrating the late summer return of fish to Puget Sound.  Also, we were dedicating an icon today in the worship area.  This has been in process for at least a year and I got to be on the committee that worked on the project.  It portrays  the risen Christ preparing fish on the beach for the apostles who are coming to shore on their boat.    I look forward to seeing it for the first time in a few moments.  But all kinds of synchronicity goin’  on.

So back to my miss step, my faux pas.  Shortly after the homily is the Sacrament of the Eucharist.    This is the very center of the Catholic world.  And I go forward following Catherine to receive the body and blood of Christ that is present in the bread and wine.  And what do I do but “fat finger” the situation and drop my small piece of bread, piece of Christ right there on the carpet.  Yike.  So I quickly pick it up and move on.

I am so glad that I had training on the Camino in the form of an outdoor Mass that had something similar.  A strong gust of wind sent the Body accross the pavement and there always a scramble to collect Him.  But what to do with forces like wind and gravity, we do our best, yes?   Pilgrims know that nothing here on earth is perfect but we do our best and keep moving down the trail.   So, here we go, love you, Felipe.

We’re six more days to corn!  That ‘s my prediction anyway.  Am I beating Pilgrim Farmer John?  We need an Iowa sweet corn report from the man.

It would be good to have the first day of corn sales to be Friday at the start of next weekend.  That would be perfect.  OK, that’s our plan.

Right now Jennifer and I are fighting our way through our funky weekend, our Pyrenees weekend.  It is the low point in the chemo cycle when the side effects have their way with us and every thing seems like a trek uphill.   OK, but we will pull through.

Now I am off to water the corn.  We had rain last evening but it was a paltry quarter inch so have to add to that.  Well, till tomorrow, love, Felipe.

Our Sharespeare guru Dr David Allen White believes that old Willie helped on the King James translation of the Bible way back when.  I forget the details but both occured at the same time and in the same place so chances are good.

It was a tremendous performance last evening.  The play was the comedy “Much Ado About Nothing”.  Ado, huh, we don’t use that word nearly enough.  Jennifer, Heather, My Rebecca and myself brought our folding chairs and our pizza and drinks and camped out on the grassy knoll along with neighbors and friends.  What a lovely evening.

So, off to today’s journey.  Going to pick some berries for the stand and change the ice in the cooler.  Have to change the corn countdown to 7.  One week to eating extreme fresh sweet corn.  This is the high point of the year for me!

Yesterday we had some lovely angel leave some money in the cash box with a note saying that they didn’t need anything but liked the way we operated.  Life on the Rock.  So we will keep on!

Back over to the mainland later this morning to the hospital and a quest for art supplies.  Have to pick up some treats for the nurses on the way.  It feels like an Animal Cracker kind of day today, don’t you think?  Animal Cracker loves, Felipe.

This blog may come slowly, paragraph by paragraph, as our treatment goes on.  Jennifer is here to participate.  She is looking especially spiffy with a special headpiece of daisys that My Rebecca wove for her.  She is celebrating completion of her set of twelve treatments.  Good job!

The day is moving on.  Things come and go and those things have more or less weight to them.  Some things are totally subjective, totally as seen from this very chair and some stuff is more universal.  But we navigate and make our way onward.  I realize that is very vague but some things are more confidential than others.  But the mission of the Cancer Commandos is to push the fun lever as far forward as possible at any given point and we do a mighty fine job of that.

Here we are the next day.  But could finish up our report from Wednesday.   Jennifer had a good buddy, Heather, roll in and we did some errands on the mainland and had dinner at a seafood joint on the water.  Yum.  So then back to the Rock (Vashon) and debriefed and got home.  But briefing wise our partying was more low keyed at the hospital.  They hardly knew we were there really.  Part of that was there was

some heavy cancer info to sort through.  The kind of stuff that is inevitable but tends to throw a wet towel on the good times.  And the wine ration seemed to have a certain calming influence and actually helped to lower my blood pressure numbers.

Tonight is Shakespeare in the Park here on the Rock and tomorrow back to Seattle to get our fanny pack chemo pumps off.   Anyway, there are some pics from the last few days that you will like:

After while crocodile, love, Felipe.

Oh thanks to my Vashon friends Kim and Dennis got the blog back on the road.  I took them some sunflowers and blackberries so a good trade.  I get so frustrated when the tech stuff doesn’t work right, feel so helpless.  It’s like your plumbing, just want to take it for granted.

Just want to report that the whole Island had some sort of  giant collective hangover after Festival weekend.  Part of it was the heat too.  Remember my prediction about becoming a billionaire from the sales at the roadside stand?  Well we took a serious hit Sunday with making only $11 and then Monday zero came in, nada.  Yike!  That threw a monkey wrench into my whole financial plan.  Yea, I was going to take all you guys to Spain but now I don’t know.  Have to rethink.

Well it’s off to the big city tomorrow to the hospital with my chemo buddy Jennifer.  Perhaps another Commando Caper will happen.  We plan on sneaking a bottle of wine into the treatment center to have with our tapa lunch.  That sounds like it has potential chemistry.

Well have to run out to the road and check the stand, maybe needs resupply.   So, thinking of you Caminoheads around the globe.  Alperfect afterall, love, Felipe.

This a blog post that I wrote Sunday and had trouble publishing but here it is for you now:  Today , Sunday, was the day that Reverend Bonnie Barnard showed up at our little community church to talk about a big topic.  She spoke on forgiveness and we wound up praying for our enemies in the end.  This is stuff that we hear about and sometimes talk about by seldom put into practice.  But we were gettin it done today!

The pics are a little idea of what went on.   It was a hot day and we could have been

been in an old time revival tent but we were in our little community church.  The message was big worthy of a bigger crowd.  I’m gnawing away at the edges of it in my mind.

After the service Reverand Bonnie took off and a bunch of us walked a short distance to the yacht club to tour a historic boat, the Lotus, that was in the harbor for the weekend.  So check out the pics to give you a rough idea of what went on.  See you tomorrow, love, Felipe.