Yesterday Loretta and her merry band showed up from Southern California.  We walked Phil’s Camino and tapaed afterward in the shade of the cherry tree.  Then we cleaned up our mess and moved down to the beach to continue the party.  These guys are hard to keep up with.

This morning in a little over an hour this gang will reappear here at the ranch for more walking and I promised them an archery lesson.   This is my life now entertaining pilgrims.  Some folks ask whether I am going back to Spain and the Camino but it is right here in our backyard.

Let me say that Loretta’s group is pretty special and we feel pretty special having them here on our little island.  Loretta just got back form Medjugorje.  They all have visited various of the world’s significant holy places and here they show up at Phil’s Camino like somehow we are on the worldwide circuit now.   That’s just what it feels like.

They all meet because of a certain Catholic school that they work at or had their kid’s in. That seems to be the original common bond but they have other things that seem to hold them together that is beyond that now.  They seem to have cultivated that Caminoesque traveling merry band feel.  I like it.

Here is something special: every day at eight something in the morning the 39 students in Loretta’s fourth grade class all pray for Phil and Phil’s Camino.  Huh, I didn’t know that.  I wasn’t even close to knowing that but I am so moved.  This is the kind of stuff that gets me through 100 chemo treatments I am sure.  Amazing.  Just another example of community being a healing tool.  Thank you all.

Well, have to go and prepare for the merry band.  We will have pix to share with you maybe tomorrow.  It is all quite amazing.  Amazing love come at you, Felipe.

PS ~ a Happy Birthday to Anamaria, the Princess of Viana.

Last night I got done with the book of poetry by Brian Doyle.  I might blog on a few of those in the future.  You remember from a not too distant blog post that I wrote he left his email address on the last page of the book.  But the ironic thing is that he died before I got to reading this particular book.  But none the less I feel some interesting sort of bond with him.

My Rebecca just bought me two more of his works.  One entitled Chicago and another a kid’s book called Children & Other Wild Animals.  I am looking forward to those.  I always have a book going but it takes me forever to read them.  I am too busy with the corn and other projects to sit.

Well, I have seven pilgrims showing up here in a few minutes.  Always fun to meet folks and sort out their stories.  I think they will be here on the Island for the weekend so we will see more of them.

Stay cool or if you are in Buenos Aires stay warm, love you always, Felipe.

Was out in the woods with six of my teenage archery campers this afternoon.  Seems like walking through the boonies should be something that we already know how to do by that age.  I seem to always make the same mistake by taking that for granted.

Somewhere in there comes Fred’s Law which is named after my father and Wiley’s grandfather.  It seems like it was one of the earliest things that I remember learning ages ago.  It seems pretty simple but so many of the really basic things are really simple.  It seems just remembering to do them amidst the usual general confusion becomes the challenge.

Simply Fred’s Law is don’t step on anything you can step over.  Easy peasy.   Kid’s want to jump up on top of stuff when just walking down a trail which is a problem because rocks and logs are notoriously slippery.  Fred’s Law is part of that notion that you are going to travel through the backcountry without becoming a liability for your partner or partners.  No unnecessary risks are allowed.

Seems all pretty boring after all the crazy stuff we are fed on TV and in the movies.  Just saw Wonder Woman and all the leaps and jumps and flips are fun to watch but hardly even slightly in the realm of anything anywhere.   Kids come to camp after watching that stuff and what are their expectations?   And in the meantime I am trying to have them remember really simple stuff like Fred’s Law.

Yup, love them though, the little squirrels, my campers.  Well, that’s it for today.  Going to mow and fix dinner.  Fred’s Love, Felipe.

Who used to say that, our third grade teacher?  Anyway, had an odd moment and thought that I would start the blogpost.  No time like the present.

Things shaping up for the 100th chemo treatment party.  Actually there are two, one at the hospital (Cancer Institute, funny I never use that term) and one at the ranch here.  I am expecting this to be a big deal!

Oh, have to run to work.  Will be back with you shortly.  OK, back in the blog saddle.  Uup, low battery, we can make it!

“Everything we meet is equally important or unimportant.”  Thomas Clark.

You know I thought I had a grip on this quote when I first read it but the more I think about it the further it swims away.  But let me take a stab at it.  So, a little wildflower with dew on it is just as important or unimportant as the Bishop of Burgos?  Or  glass of fresh squeezed orange juice on the Meseta is just as important or unimportant as one in Galicia?  Or bedbugs are equally important or unimportant as ladybugs?

Wow, things are getting complicated and my battery power is getting lower and I’m getting hungry and Rebecca needs something to write on, all at once.  Look love you,  we  aren’t going to solve it all today, Felipe.x

Making a space for my thoughts, making a space to write one more blogpost, that is my job at the moment.  Have kid’s archery camp starting after lunch today and I need to put the final touches on my prep but first I’m here at Caminoheads.  It was a hard weekend, not that it wasn’t beautiful and full of interesting facets.  But it was my Pyrenees weekend as Catherine calls it, my bad chemo time when it feels like I am climbing the mountains again.  But here we are, made it to the other side.

Also we are preparing for the next Women’s Archery Retreat in September.  This is going to be a blast and I am getting stoked.  We had such a good time in June with our very first one.  This is similar to any other situation where you can guide someone through a process and watch the satisfaction and progress happening.  After a while it is way more fun than actually doing it yourself.   That’s where I am at.

This archery thing is largely a lost art.  We now at this time in history are picking up the crumbs of what was.  But even at that it is serious fun with what we have been able to put together from looking at the past.  That combined with some influx of modern materials and innovations has again raised bow and arrow shooting to a practical and fun activity.  You don’t have to be highly athletic, wealthy, young.  There is gear and a method for everyone.

It is my pleasure to be able to offer lessons and these retreats.  I guess I am doing the old passing on things.  But archery largely sells itself, all I do is get you started.

I hope this doesn’t sound like a plug for something that is outside the scope of this blog but it is what is largely on my mind.  And making a space for blogging with you today seems to be impossible except for this topic.  Hope that you find it interesting.

Love you, Felipe.

Monday 0900-1000

Tuesday 1600-1700

Thursday 0900-1000

Sunday 1600-1700

Hope to see you sometime soon, Felipe.x

A story came up after our Tailgate Theology session today.  Catherine and I had been to Mass and the supermarket and she was driving me home.  We stopped at my job site to grab some tools and I said, “Hey, push the button so the hatchback flips up so I can throw this junk in.”  And she replied, “Lift the lever back there, this Prius is groovy but not that groovy.”  Anyway this started this conversation about cars and conveniences.

Somehow this led to my Truck Sailing story.  Catherine liked it so I will try it on you.  I have this old black panel truck that sits in the weeds here.  It used to be a going concern and as a matter of fact I drove it across country at least a dozen times give or take.  It was pretty primitive compared to things these days.  It had no radio (early sound system) but I used to turn the heater on for some distraction for instance.  Anyway on one of my trips going from west to east I was trying to make it on fifty dollars for food and gas which could be done.  At some point the battery gave out and I was running without it which involved getting some jump starts now and then from strangers.

So, that is the background.  And on this trip I was being chased by this storm going through Wyoming.  The wind was howling behind me as I pulled into one of those Little America places with a hundred gas pumps.  I had to shut down the engine before the attendant would pump my fuel ( 33 cents a gallon).  So, I thought that’s cool I will just ask for a jump.  Well the jump cost a dollar.  A dollar!

So I paid the guy five dollars for the gas and jumped in the rig and then a little light bulb came on and I opened the front doors, started rolling and sailed out of there.  Popped the clutch and off I went.  I caught the attendant in the rear view mirror with his mouth open.  Yea, the the old mother of invention thing.    And I made it all the way to New York on my budget but I never had to do that again.

Just goes to show you something, I not exactly sure what at the moment.  OK, have to take off for now.  Love you,  and remember when you get into trouble open your doors and things will come together for you, Felipe.

“We loose the flavor of walking if it becomes too rare or too extraordinary, if it turns into an expedition; rather it should be quite ordinary, unexceptional, just what we do.”  Thomas Clark.  I like that, “just what we do.”  I’m feeling a little lazy or a little overwhelmed this AM so I thought I would just start with one of these great Clark quotes and see what develops.

Just what we do seems like a terrific starting place for us all to meet.  We meet we walk together, no big deal.  We converse and maybe work out something that has been bothering us.  We see something new in the randomness of nature that reminds us of where we came from or where we are going.  We get wet or cold or get a blister but it’s not the end of the world just a badge of courage.  No big deal.

No big deal, that’s just the way we want to keep things, right?  Just get there however you can, in what ever shape you are in.  Come as you are, as it where.  The important thing is to get there to be with us, to be together or alone if that is the best thing.  But to be moving and letting the environment work on us, massage us, teach us.

OK, I got myself all talked up.  Hehe.  Come walk here with me whenever you can make the times.  Don’t ever feel like you are intruding or bothering me.  You are really the reason this is all here now.  OK?

I have to go to my bible class and learn something.  Alperfect, love you, Felipe.

Marooned, did I spell that right?  At the hospital now but somewhere on my trip here I discovered that I left my wallet on the Island.  No money available green or in card form.    Have to borrow $40 from my chums here to get out of the parking lot and on the ferry boat.  Geez, how embarrassing!  Luckily my karma is is good shape.  Margie just delivered two twenty dollar bills to me.  “Thank you dear.”

Man, the possibility of  being marooned from my island home was anxiety producing.  Funny but I can still remember the anxiety producing feeling of being on an island when I first came to Vashon.  Man, getting cornered on an island, bad news!

Well, living on Vashon Island is hardly a hardship ultimately although it is not for everyone.  It takes certain quirky individuals to populate a place like this, sort of nearly normal people.  But we have fun and cheer each other on.   Ultimately we wouldn’t want things any other way.

People come to check us out.  I mean they come to see the island because they have heard about it somehow.  Or maybe they have heard of Phil’s Camino and want to come and walk that.  Well, it is not one of the major island attractions but it has it’s followers.  We just had a lovely group of six from Spokane that came through.  Next Thursday we have seven from I don’t know where that are coming.  What a great pastime to entertain these folks, all caminoheads or on the brink.

OK, have to go for now.  Please come to visit when you get a chance.  Vashon loves, Felipe.

I feel the need to talk about cancer.  I never like to burden you with it but once in a while it is good.  We all need to get used to the idea that it is around and waiting.

Two things happened in the last two days that have struck a chord with me and they are on my mind.  They seem to be opposites and I am trying to reconcile them.  Maybe it is just one of those paradoxes that one has to live with.

My Rebecca and I were out on the town, well Vashon town, to see Wonder Woman last evening.  We had a draft while waiting for the theater to open and met an old friend who we spent a little time catching up with.  He asked what I was up to and I had to mention my cancer hobby since I was standing there with my portable chemo pump on my hip clicking away getting the finale to my 99th treatment in me.  He said he had his own run in with cancer and told me that story and gave me the stat that 1 out of 3 men will come up with cancer in their lives.

I had never heard that 1 out of 3 but it could be accurate.  It feels like it is so prevalent, don’t know numbers.  But I went into my usual talk of how cancer is the best thing that ever happened to me.  Well, I always have to precede that with, “I am going to tell you something that may sound weird.”  But I really feel  that in a sense it was an integral part of the process of me reorganizing my life for the good.  It was the right thing at the right time combined with other ingredients to changed my life and yes for the good.

But there always has to be a flip side I guess.  I had lunch with a friend that I hadn’t talked to in a long time and after catching up he started talking about how he was caring for his brother who lived an isolated life because he was missing his lower jaw due to his run in.  Definitely sent a shudder up through me.

I feel the need to make sure to acknowledge those who are suffering the most.  I feel some sort of survivor guilt.  I am out walking, partying and giving talks.  It is hard to reconcile for me when I run into this conflict.  Cancer obviously brings some bad stuff into people’s lives, big time.

Before I started my blogpost  I was waffling about writing about cancer and I read a FB post by one of my favorite people that has just written a book about her exploits.  This is Edie Littlefield Sundby who wrote Mission Walker.  It is about her walk along the Camino Real the trail connecting all the missions though the Baha and up through New California.  She had a quote: “I knew that in order to survive, I had to help my doctors believe they could save me.”  That is so powerful.

People have such different experiences confronting their obstacles.  Thanks, I feel better having talked through some of this stuff.  Ever onward my friends, love, Felipe.