Dear Caminoheads,

August 20th is coming, and we have to get moving.

The memo from the boss says the Oasis is happening. 

The boss said too that ” Beside physical knowhow we have spiritual, emotional and mental knowhow.”; and added “I’m not just BS’ing you here.” (I think this last line was written to make sure his message is clear :D)

Remember the 2019 Veranda? I do. The morning it was supposed to start, we didn’t have a coffee brewer or chairs. By midday, I was helping William to hang a string of lights from the trees. And by the evening, there was a tapas table full of food and wine, laughters and conversation that made the island vibrate. How did it happen? I don’t know, but if we would realign the letters of the first word of that question and instead of “HOW”, we write “WHO”, I do have an answer for that one. WE MAKE IT HAPPEN.

Last year, on March 23rd, Phil wrote this:

“Last year at about this time plans were starting to be made for the 2019 Veranda. There were a lot of concerns but what made the whole management process easier was my firm belief that the folks coming were pilgrims and “they will figure it out”. In other words the meeting place did not have to be overly engineered. Keep it simple and sort of do-it-yourself. Not only will we figure it out but that is what we love to do. Just basically give us an empty space and a four day weekend and some wine and firewood and we will have a ball!”

 

For the Oasis this year we are called to put all our pilgrim nature at work. The Oasis 2021 is not like the Veranda 2019… The Oasis is catching us in the middle of a pandemic, travel is coming back but still is slow, some places still are struggling with restrictions (like my own country), and Phil and his family have new challenges (way different than from 2019). But WE CAN DO IT. Aren’t we the ones who crossed a country by walking on foot more than 500 miles, living on a backpack for more than 30 days and sleeping each day in a room full of heavy snorers and smelly walking shoes? We are those. So, if we did all of that, we will make it to the Oasis too.

As for the logistics, the boss appointed the headquarters of the South America Bureau located in Buenos Aires as organizer (to bring some glamour to the event, I suppose); yet, the headquarters here have had to hire local employees in Vashon Island (“hire” and “employees” are glamorous terms too, to be honest with you) who at the same time are negotiating some contracts with third party vendors in the island to get what we need (ok… “negotiating contracts” is also a tiny bit glamorous)… but you get the point, don’t you? We are trying to think on alternatives, maybe getting the meals outside the ranch, maybe getting someone supplying meals to the ranch; maybe spending less time at the ranch and more time doing activities like walks in the island; maybe putting together a list of places to stay including camping sites outside Raven Ranch; and we are also planning some “food for thought and soul”, as at the end of the day, we not only need to nurture our bodies, right?

Everyone is welcome to come. If you missed 2019 Veranda, let me tell you: it was exactly like a day in the Camino: we walked, we talked, we shared, we laughed, we cried, we hugged, we ate.

And we can make the same out of the Oasis 2021. Please come.

Email to [email protected] and I will add you to the list of pilgrims, reply to any question you may have and share any important information that for some reason may not be shared in the blog.

If you are unable to come in person but would love to come in a screen, send an email too. We are flexible. 

 

Pilgrims Love,

Cris