(This blog post should have been posted two days ago and somehow it wasn’t published on that date. But here it is now)

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of having a video chat with Catalina’s grad class on Art and Pilgrimage. I was with them for a little over an hour answering questions. So, after getting permission to share some of their thoughts I am presenting them to you.

The value of these is that we get an educated view of what we are up to. You know when I say that I am a guy just walking in the mud that is what it mostly is but it is more than that. And these folks are going to tell us what that more is. That is their value.

Here are a couple of quotes from Mira. Thank you Mira we appreciate your thoughts and your willingness to participate in Caminoheads blog.

“First and formost, Phil’s project of walking the camino in his backyard is a demonstration of understanding pilgrimage to be primarily a personal journey of the heart, body and mind.”

I guess thinking back on the beginnings of the trail here I built the venue to be a place primarily for my exercise program. But it soon started it’s evolution to pilgrimage trail though. It maybe happened in stages or lurches as time progressed. Father Marc blessed the trail and Annie was sending me chapters from her new book and this was all working on me. Everything was in process but remember there was six months there of walking so there was plenty of time for things to percolate.

“Although he does not stray from his physical location, he is changed (as is his landscape) through the process of daily devotion, intention and physicality. Then once he gets to Spain and walked the literal Camino Santiago, he experiences similar personal transformation.”

Looking back the local camino seemed more internal. Most of it was alone. While in Spain things were more social. But given that, one built on the other. I believe things were richer in Spain because of all the homework that I did here. But they were both remarkable.

OK, wrapping it up. Alperfect, love, Felipe.

0

Here are some thoughts from Marinda:

“Phil’s spirituality of healing and curing is real. It comes from a deep sense of knowing who he is and where he is going. Life is a pilgrimage and we are pilgrims walking on our journey of life. Phil has inspired so many people in his life. By watching his film and talking to him in person, I had a sense of touching the divine ascent of my life. It had a healing affect like what we discussed in the class, whether relics, icons or holy shrines are copies or not, the divine touch, now in our case, through a film, is how we encounter the divine. My encounter with Phil has lead me into a divine space, like my various pilgrimage experiences, touching the birthplace of Jesus in Bethlehem, touching the stone wall of the Holy House of Loreto, touching the holy ground that Jesus prayed at before his agony in Gethsemane. I am very glad to meet my fellow pilgrim – Phil – in my life pilgrimage, our encounter is a healing experience in my own self transcended toward my ultimate and divine. Thank you Phil.”

Wow! Thank you Marinda for your thoughts after seeing Phil’s Camino. I need another coffee before commenting on this. That was quite a heady thing to open up. I should say that the class was involved with studying the way that material items as icons for instance have been recognized as having the ability of inspiring people and having them get closer to the divine. So here we have this little documentary, a film, that has ability. I am not sure a film is a material item but maybe that is another topic for another day. But the jist of the idea is that out film has that power.

I am truly honored to be associated with the film. It now has a life of it’s own and I occasionally get to share in the lights by it’s side. It is amazing that it has this ability to inspire people and maybe give them a different way to think about difficulties in their lives. I mean it is amazing from my point of view of a guy who started out walking in the mud outside his house and made it 500 miles and then made it most of the way across Spain and then gets to walk on stage with the documentary about the whole journey. All pretty amazing. Thank you Saint James.

So last night I did the hour long radio interview with Eric Pryne on his show Island Crossroads. It will be up on the website in the IC archives for listening at any time soon. That’s at www.voiceofvashon.org It takes them a few days to get it organized and up there.

That’s it for now, off to my day. Thanks for being here. Love, Felipe.

My Rebecca is just leaving, off to her church and her friends. So, I said to say hi to them. Frosty here although the sun is warm. This isn’t our usual weather but we’ll take it.

Everything is getting very Christmasie around town. It is going to be a little different for us since we aren’t going to be here for the holiday. Seems odd not to have a tree for instance. And I don’t have to worry about outside lights.

I have to get some kind of excitement going though. I still got gifts to think about. And of course to spend some time and effort meditating on the meaning of the whole shebang.

That is the challenge but that is always the challenge to keep the important matters first and foremost in mind and heart. There are numerous other things going on always and everywhere it seems but what is really important. Well we have our work cut out for us.

I am going to take off. I have archery students showing up in half an hour. It’s a beautiful day here. The best to you, love, Felipe.

A few days ago or a few weeks ago I got on the topic of Gideon Bibles and I was telling how I got mine in a mad mob scene in school. Don’t ask me how I got on this topic but anyway William from Calgary send in a pic of his Gideon Bible. So all of a sudden we had two of these babies and the thought was maybe there was more out there. So, if you have one in your possession send me a pic so we can document that.

Those were really physically small copies, good for backpacking maybe. I’ve had many “better” Bibles since then but I still keep it. Another special small copy that I really cherish is the zippered copy that my Dad carried on his person through his travels in the Pacific during World War II.

Well whether big or small there is a lot of good reading there between the covers if you take the time. Of course it takes a while to get used to the texture and the language of it.
Remember that it is a little library as it is a collection of books. So there is no good reason to start at the beginning which is not the way to approach it for starters.

If you feel the urge to read it start with one of the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke or John with maybe Mark being the easiest. Then Paul’s Letters and by that time you will have a feel for it and you can explore on your own.

Well, yea and remember that there are certain aspects of the study that are down right mysteries and we had better save that for another day as Jim is here my guy to help me look at a problem on my tractor. Have to go. Love, Felipe.

The local Vashon radio station is going to have Felipe on for an hourlong interview. Do they know what they are getting into? Here is the info: Monday December 11th at 7PM on 101.9 FM is the Island Crossroads show hosted by Eric Pryne. So, if you miss that or are out of range go to the website and find the archives for Island Crossroads and I will be there.

That’s all I got for now. At the hospital doing my routine thing. Miss you, love, Felipe.

They got everything these days including bacon toothpaste so why not in Caminoheads blog. Well, here’s the deal. My bacon, the cheap stuff which I bought, you know the kind that curls all up all turned out to look like little seahorses. Yea, does that mean something? I really really hope not. I mean does everything have to mean something? It would be a burden thinking about all that. Maybe some stuff is just comic relief.

Well, I know something that means something and that is Steve Watkins new book Pilgrim Strong. I was up in the middle of the night cooking along on my chemo steriods and finished it. So, highly recommended! Chapter 30 really stopped me in my tracks and then I cried my way through the rest of it. Old Steve has a grip on the important stuff. Is the check in the mail Steve?

Yea, well, I have to run. I am a little behind schedule this AM with cleaning the woodstove and making my power deer liver breakfast. I have walkers showing up in 15 minutes and I am still in my teddy bears (jammies).

OK, you are the best. Seahorsie loves, Felipe.

That could only mean one thing, our grandgirl Cheyenne is on her way. This is in Massachusetts but it is still my Camino we are talking about. It’s the legacy, the offspring of the offspring.

We are off to that happening later this month. Back to the ice and snow. Didn’t I escape that once?

Back from my treatment today, so glad to be back at the ranch. The stars are out right now giving a wonderful show, pretty rare for our December. Boy, and we are praying for Ventura County now right? What a nightmare down there.

Sorry that I am so late today. I find it hard to blog from the treatment center any more. But we are back to the ranch now, my sanctuary, and the words will flow. Yup, that’s what it looks like. Love you like the stars that are out, Felipe.x

Yesterday I was feeling like something had to be done so I made a management decision. We have been walking at Phil’s Camino for months without a plan or destination just wandering in the wilderness, as Catherine says. So, yesterday I left St Jean Pied de Port for another virtual Camino Frances on Phil’s Camino. It seemed like the thing to do.

I am dedicating this walk to Bill, Harry and Steve. They passed away in this last year, all three brought down by cancer. Bill and Harry walked here with us. Steve was an Island friend. Yea, what better way to remember them?

I missed the structure of “Camino” walks which gave an additional dimension to the trek. So now you can ask me where we are and I can tell you. Right now we are on the outskirts of SJPP, a start!

Our first trek “across Spain” went from December 21, 2013 to May 12, 2014, six months. Then the second one went from August 16, 2015 to March 14, 2017, nineteen months. Now here we are starting again December 4, 2017. Nineteen months from now will put us in September 2019! Wow, will I make it that long, that far? Well, you guys will have to finish it for me if I don’t, OK? Anyway, here is to Bill, Harry and Steve.

We have another walk this afternoon. It is pretty cold out these days but sunny. So, come and join us. Love, Felipe.

Friday evening was so extraordinary. That was the showing of Phil’s Camino on the big screen on Vashon for the first time. It will be talked about it for years. After the showing Annie, Dr Zucker, My Rebecca and myself did the Q and A. We have all participated in these before so we are practiced. But audiences come up with such a wide range of questions that it is always a challenge.

So, there was one man that asked the question, “How do you keep up hope?” Great question and Rebecca jumped on it by telling a joke which was perfect for the occasion. The joke goes, There was a guy who falls off the roof of a six story building. He goes by the sixth floor and someone yells out, “How’s it going?” And he yells back, “So far so good!” And goes by the fifth floor and someone yells out, “How’s it going?” And he yells back, “So far so good!” Well you see where this is going.

And she got a good laugh and it was a good short answer. But I have been thinking about it and I wanted to add more to that. The reason that it was a good short answer was that it pointed to the ability of some people in bad situations to live in the moment no matter how goofy that my seem to the outside observer. Obviously the guy is in big trouble but somehow he finds joy in his place in the situation.

I am going to put a capital on that since if you are in that situation that is the Situation. Somehow I have been able to find peace with my cancer and find myself in the very center of a whirlwind of my three C’s. Those are Cancer, Catholicism and Camino. They swirl around me continually and provide a place for me to work from. I am in the eye of that storm.

Christian faith tells me that I have nothing to fear from death. That is the major key for me and helps with how to live this life gracefully no matter the Situation. Those are my thoughts on the question of hope and a longer answer to his question. At least today’s longer answer.

The man’s father Harry passed away a few months ago and he was someone that I walked with here on the trail. And last night I heard that Bill just passed, another man I walked with and he told me that joke.

Ah, time goes on and I am still here saying, “So far so good!”
Yup, thanks for being here.

Love you immensely and intensely, Felipe.

Yes, it has been raining and there in some standing water on some parts of the trail. Raven Creek is starting its wintertime flow. So, rubber boots are pretty much a must.

Monday 0900-1000
Tuesday 1530-1630
Thursday 0900-1000
Sunday 1530-1630

No walks on December 24, 25, 26 and 28.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Felipe.x