Is there such a thing? I don’t know but I had this thought coming out of my sleeplessness that maybe my courageous tumors could possibly be bumped off their natural trajectory. They have just been doing yeoman’s work trying to make a living in my body. Maybe their courageous stand against all odds could be recognized and they could be transferred, or graduated, or promoted to another venue. They could have a wing at the Tumor Hall of Fame, don’t you think? Anyway, just another creative look at living life.

This morning Annie and I are off to Catalina’s class which is the reason we came this far in the first place. All these other activities that I have been writing about in the last few days have been added on to that. So, Annie’s going to met me shortly and we will find some breakfast and then off to class.

There is some great holiday stuff starting to show up on Facebook. One is a pic of the Deere Pond on Vashon Island. It is a large shallow pond in the shape of a running deer and a close cousin to the John Deere Tractor logo. Which makes total sense since the Mann brothers who crafted it have been moving dirt, smoothing dirt, improving land their whole lives. Actually one passed away a few years ago but one continues. Anyway, back to the pond, every Christmas season they string lights around the water and it is big enough to be seen from airliners flying over if not from space. Very cool, these guys in their greasy duds are premier land artists.

Catalina the art historian is looking on Phil’s Camino the trail as “land art” like the pond. I like it. Something sort of big and rough but effective. Yea, me and the Mann Brothers, land artists.

Well, that’s it for now. Will give you a report on the class. All good, alperfect! Love, Felipe.

What a full day today. It started out with Esther giving us a tour of Cannery Row, remember the Steinbeck novels. Yea, she used to be a professional tour guide there so we got the full meal deal. Then off to Mass with Padre Tomas at 1100. What a nice job he did. This was at the Chapel at Fort Ord. Then lunch with the Knights of Columbus.

So, our work began at 1300 with a showing of Phil’s Camino and an almost hour long question and answer session. This audience was really great and had all sorts of questions mostly of the religious kind. Annie said it well when she said that she was way more comfortable when she could talk to an audience where she could mention God. I am with her on that and she drove home the point with the folks there how important it was for my success that I had not only assembled a great medical support team but also a great spiritual support team as well. True true.

It was such a great day to be with the Padre today not only to see him serve Mass but also to receive some of the Church’s major blessings. Of course Mass includes participating in the Eucharist which was may first Sacrament of the day. Then in the privacy of Padre’s office I had the privilege of participating in the second Sacrament by receiving Reconciliation which used to be called Confession. And if that wasn’t enough Father Tom Anointed me with Oil at the end of the QandA me being held up by one of the parishioners on one side and a major Caminohead Dave on the other just in case I swooned. It will be a very memorable day for Felipe.

A funny thing happened after we left the church that is worth relating. Since we couldn’t sell anything at the church due to federal government regulations we met with all the folks that wanted to purchase the new DVD and other gear down the road off of the property. There was a big empty parking lot next to an abandoned burger joint that we pulled into. We were selling stuff out of the truck of the rental car with all these buyers coming and going. It looked like some kind of big drug deal going down. We were all laughing waiting to be surrounded by the local cops. But in the end we escaped with the money and were on our way down the highway to Berkeley.

After an hour and a half drive we got to the Jesuit housing and got settled in before meeting Catalina and her family for dinner. They treated us to a hearty Mexican feed and we played with Electra their three year old daughter and hammered out the details for tomorrow’s work. And that is being with Catalina’s class on Pilgrimage Art that she teaches at the Jesuit School of Theology.

Pretty darn heady day and I at this very moment am exhausted. And on top of that the Seahawks are winning with a few minutes to go. OK, enough, time to curl up with my fat book. Thanks so much for being here with us, love, Felipe and company.

We had a great showing at the REI in Sacramento with approximately 100 folks showing up. It was a meeting of the APOC chapter there and we were there to give them our best song and dance. Notably missing were Tom and JoAnn who were off on a trip to Mexico.

It is so special showing Phil’s Camino to a bunch of Camino people as compared with a festival audience. Filmgoers at the festivals have one sort of interest but a pilgrim audience is way more involved. Actually we got a standing ovation. They were a great group and Annie and I brought our A game for the QandA. REI had to throw us out when it got to closing time at 2100.

Then immediately we jumped on the highway and Esther drove to her place in Monterrey where we were up late yakking. So right now I am supposed to be napping but here I am writing to you while Annie and Esther are off trolling the supermarket for dinner.

But I jumped ahead, for Father Tom (Padre Tomas) accompanied by his sister Linda took us out to brunch. Then we did some driving around the area which is all so beautiful, ocean, wind blown trees, surf, wind blown trees, more surf. Yea and we toured the San Carlos Borromeo Del Rio Carmelo Mission with the padre as our tour guide. He sometimes serves the Mass there so people knew him and he knew all the good stuff to see.

I find the old missions so fascinating. All the history and the buildings so rugged and the grounds so peaceful. There was a trail that connected all 21 missions way back when. Some of it still exists and some has to be approximated because of modern roads, buildings and homes. But that might be fun to try and do sometime.

So tonight we get to hang out with Esther and her husband Daniel. And tomorrow is Sunday and Mass but I will get to that on tomorrow’s post. I think it is time for my nap. Maybe read a few pages from Don Quixote, approaching halfway!

Heard the Washington Huskies won yesterday. Way to go boys! Hello from Esther and Annie. OK, time to go, love you, Felipe.

This refers to yesterday’s post. This Hot Springs at the Arlington Hotel. That is Steve Watkins in the upper right. I think his wife Dana took the pic.

I woke up at 4:30 AM and the alarm was set for 6:30 AM. And then I pretty awake. So, my best thing to do at that quiet time is to check in with the universe and that includes my tumors. We were all hangin around and the topic of fears came up. The idea that we were kicking around was how sort of arbitrary my personal fears are. We all have a set of them and they go a long way in defining us. What is that and how did I get that particular set or how does anyone arrive at having their own set? And of course our set represents reality while others fears are mostly unfounded.

We closed down the meeting and I rolled over on my side and slept till both My Rebecca’s and my radio alarm clock went off. Mine was intent on telling me about a three mile backup somewhere. Got those shut off and I had to regroup after a mild nightmare about renegade city buses going this way and that and causing all sorts of havoc. Here are my fears showing up when on this trip to California that starts today I decided that I would use the bus system to get myself to and from the airport. Buses and trafic are scary apparently!

I can’t account for my fears. They are so capricious, maybe that is the right word. Consider just before this bus craziness I am hanging out with my tumors like they are a bunch of harmless munchkins. No fear on either of our parts, Hmm.

OK, off to make my day. Esther is going to be at the airport in Sacramento to pick me up and get me to the REI. Let the fun begin and the fears subside, watch out for those buses, love, Felipe.

That’s what the working title is for a talk I am going to give to a college class on Monday. Annie and I are going to be with them for three hours to watch Phil’s Camino and talk about pilgrimage, it’s a class on pilgrimage. This is one of the three stops on our magical mystery tour that starts tomorrow. I’m flying out of Seatac tomorrow afternoon and I have today to prepare.

Totally forgot I have a walk this AM, in twenty minutes. Will do that and be back to you afterward. Yup.

Here I am. Just looking on FaceBook and it’s fun seeing all the folks writing about just receiving their DVD’s of Phil’s Camino. So great to have it out there. If you would like one go to www.philscamino.com and click on store at the top and have at it. There is other Camino stuff there also. You also need a t-shirt to be at your coolest. That reminds me to pack my Phil’s Camino T-shirt.

So this afternoon I have a phone call slated with Steve Watkins and maybe say hi to Dana. Steve’s name is all over get out so I feel comfortable naming him here. They just recently got back from walking the French Way in Spain. They did a FaceBook blog that was nice. I wanted to touch base with them and see how things are. We had a chance to spend time at the Hot Springs Festival a few months ago.

Time to go. I will be blogging from California in the near future. You will find out the inside skinny. Stay warm, love, Felipe.