Monthly Archives: October 2016

Pick Up And Regroup

Adventure Is Out There!
Adventure Is Out There!

I was trying to post a bunch of pics from the Port Townsend weekend that Annie sent this morning but it is not going to happen. Sometimes the inner gizmos of my blog are not properly aligned. Well maybe tomorrow when it is feeling better. In the meantime I need to pick it up and regroup and get my plan B in gear.

Thinking about the end of this week and weekend. Friday Annie, My Rebecca and I will be at the Tacoma Film Festival being with Phil’s Camino. It is in a group of short films which starts at 2 PM that is entitled “Adventure is Out There”. We will be doing a Q and A afterward. It is just something like $10 to see. Check out their website for location. Come join us!

Then early Saturday morning Annie and I are off to Little Rock and Hot Springs, AK. This is the Hot Springs Film Festival where our screening is Saturday afternoon with Q and A after. So if you have any friends down there let them know.

There are always interesting things to do and interesting people to meet at these events. Of course I will be blogging from there. We were in that area ages ago in 1976, Rebecca and I, on an epic cross country trip, whole other story.

So, Annie has a bunch of news here this morning about upcoming events and happenings so don’t miss that. Will post in a moment. And remember that the DVD is out and available. Well, and the first hundred are special signed copies by Annie and Phil.

It’s all exciting as Phil’s Camino roars down the tracks hitting festivals hither and yon. Stay tuned, plenty more to come, love as always, Felipe.

Patchy Sky And 51 Degrees F

A little of this and a little of that.
A little of this and a little of that.

Thinking that it is a pretty decent day outside. Looking forward to being out there soon after my blogging and numerous coffees. I am feeling better also but want to not over do it today till I get up to speed. Pacing, so much has to do with pacing, right?

The weekend has concluded and the Seahawks won and the Mariners lost. I missed Mass but had an hour with Sister Joyce. The chemo kicked me pretty hard but it is subsiding now. The whole thing kind of matches the sky outside, patchy.

Off to read Richard Rohr’s blog and Terry Hershey’s Sabbath Moments. Love these guys, they buoy me up. Check them out and let me know if there are any blogs that you find particularly inspirational.

OK, let’s get the week rolling. This is our precious time that we have been given. Alperfect even if patchy loves, Felipe.x

An Afternoon Palaver

Phil's Camino the trail,
Phil’s Camino the trail,

Well, it wasn’t all afternoon, just a little short of an hour. Catherine and I and Sister Joyce, just the three of us. We may have talked about you, hope that is alright.

Back at the ranch Rebecca is reading a book to me, isn’t that nice, yea and a word jumped out at me today, palaver. I liked the way it sounded but beyond the definition is great: prolonged and idle discussion. Wow, that sounds a lot like the dilly dally that we pilgrims perfected on the Camino in Spain. In other words how can we be present and spend time together to the maximum effect whatever that looks like to the outside world.

We covered a lot of ground with our palaver today and nothing seems to be off limits. Maybe a little history, maybe a little gossip maybe just catching up. Sister Joyce and I both have cancer hobbies so that is part of it. But whatever the topic we take time and we are open, that’s important.

I feel immensely lucky to have people like Sister Joyce and Catherine be a part of my Doctors, Lawyers and Indian Chiefs, my support system. I have so much talent to call upon it’s crazy. Yea, one lucky guy.

And I am still deep in my Pyrenees weekend when the chemotherapy side effects are the worst. But it is after nightfall now and Sunday Night Football is happening so what the heck, things are OK, things are manageable. So, manage on!

Well, let’s see what trouble we can get into tomorrow, stay tuned. In the meantime there are miles to walk, wine to drink and palavering can be found. Lovin you guys, Felipe.x

Viriditas, What’s That?

Image
Can never get enough of this red.
Can never get enough of this red.

My good Caminohead buddy Dana sent this in. God’s Hotel is a book by Dr Victoria Sweet, MD and medieval historian. The dear doctor is rediscovering some of the truths Saint Hildegard

Recalling the beautiful image of viriditas from God’s Hotel…..
Sending greening thoughts and prayers.

In regards to a particularly difficult patient, Victoria Sweet wrote: “What would Hildegard do?” as she sat at her desk staring at a green potted plant. “What she would do, I suddenly saw, was remove obstructions to the veriditas, to her natural ability to heal. Because if nothing was in its way, then viriditas would heal her wound as surely as a plant will grow green. …. I had to start with a vision of her whole, complete and healthy….I understood from Hildegard that, in addition to removing obstructions to viriditas, I would fortify her viriditas with Earth, Water, Air, and Fire…..and she did heal.

“Like one of those time lapse movies of a plant, where a plant grows from a seed within minutes. Dirt falls on either side of the sprout as it pushes its way up through the earth; then a minute later tiny leaves unfurl, buds appear and then expand until their sides split open and the first petals uncurl…:

Hildegard’s concept of viriditas is from vis medicatrix naturae “the remedying force of your own nature to be itself. To turn back into itself when it has been wounded…….”

From God’s Hotel, by Victoria Sweet PhD pp 106-114