Things are headed toward the sucking vortex of Heartland Film Festival. The new version of Phil’s Camino officially entitled Phil’s Camino – So Far So Good will be premiering this coming Saturday there. But really the big day for us is the following weekend when a major Caminohead Cluster is happening that Saturday to celebrate the last showing. So, if you are planning on coming up try and be there on the 20th.

But first I am going to escape to Eastern Washington for four days to enjoy the outback. It seems it is turning into an annual ritual for me, Wiley (our trusty son) and James (The Most Interesting Man in the World – In Training). It is theoretically a bird hunt but almost anything could distract us.

So I will be writing this blog from there and will publish those posts when I return to civilization unless I can somehow transmit them from that Middle of Nowhere. So, I am pretty sure that Caminoheads will be off the air for at least four days. But have no fear we will be back with a vengeance.

Then we will be reporting from Indiana and giving you Felipe’s impressions of the Heartland Film Festival and environs. So, off I go now to start the packing process. Don’t want to forget my bow tie. That’s a joke. Love you my friends, So Far So Good Felipe.

Monday now and walking in a little while. This morning is cloudy and wet. But yesterday afternoon’s walk was perfect weather wise. And so glad because we had a crowd, eight folks showed up and then myself for a gaggle of nine. We walked and talked and joked and prayed.

I am not going to use names because sometimes life is delicate and things are balanced ever so gently. Well OK, I will break my rules right away by saying that Catherine and Dana were here and ever so solid and always enjoy them and profit and learn something from them. But the main reason for the rest of the folks being here was that there was a death so very recently and people had come from afar to be here on Vashon to grieve and help out. And that whole ensemble in all its beauty was here to walk. And we enveloped them without the least awkwardness like we were old hands at this kind of pain.

And we had wine and tapas inside and watched Phil’s Camino. I hadn’t seen it in a long time and I laughed and choked up more than usual. And you know how it is with pilgrims, we have learned to laugh and cry at the same time with the way life is.

Yea, life gets better and we get better at life somehow. I am off to walk this soggy morning. Maybe some hearty pilgrim will show up to be with me.

Make the most of it loves, Felipe.

We had an important Sunday today at St. John Vianney’s Church.
We were being visited by a statue of Mary as she appeared at Fatima. We get her for one day and then she moves on to another parish. Very beautiful and inspirational she is.

Catherine and I were in our usual position at Mass. We always sit in the same place. Funny how that happens. And we were looking at the right side of Mary as she was up next to the altar. And on the first row of pews which was empty, as it always is, was a pile of fabric. Most was white but some was colorful. And all of a sudden I was seeing the left side of a man’s face in the folds of the white cloth and the flow of the colored fabric was looking like hair. There it was mustache and everything. I couldn’t not see it.

So I ask Catherine in my low voice whether she sees St James there and no, and no and no. Right there Catherine. But no.

Then I am telling Dana about it and she puts together that St
James is looking toward Mary. I didn’t put that together.
And then at home I told Rebecca since we have been talking about the phenomenon of seeing things that are suggested in random visuals. OK Rebecca I say him in the cloth and Catherine couldn’t see him. So Rebecca says it was in my brain. Yea, but God gave me this brain, right?

Well, OK, a morning in the life of Felipe. Lots of folks coming today to do the Sunday walk. Have to go, love you Felipe.

Over some time now I have been able to find and install some of you to help out with the blog. These folks are the Caminoheads Bureau Chiefs. It sounds important and is. You guys are located in certain areas and we need you to keep your ear to the ground for news in your region. News and pics about walks, groups, insights can then come into me at headquarters for use on the blog. That’s the theory.

So here are some folks that we have so far:

Canadian ~ William in Calgary, Alberta.
Heartland US – John (Juan or Pilgrim Farmer John) in Wellman, Iowa.
Northwest US – Steve (Esteban or Steve-O) in Ashland Oregon.
Southwest US – Rho in San Diego, California.
South America – Cris in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

That’s who we have so far. We seem to be good north and south but need some help with longitude. I would like to have a couple of people on the East Coast. How about Hawaii? How about Europe? And I am working on that. And in addition as Steve-O says this gives a person practice with spelling Bureau. It seems all big fun and educational to boot.

Maybe we can have a pic for each one of these fine folks for you in the near future. We are ever on the lookout for improvements. Stay tuned.

That is all I have for you today. I am off to lunch and to work. Have a good one. Work hard, play hard loves, Felipe.

Well, in case you haven’t heard Vashon Island has a new cougar, a puma, a mountain lion. And this one is way new and improved. The last one we had and the first one in a long time was cool and did a fantastic ground breaking job but the new one has panache. Well, he or she is on FaceBook with his or her own page for one. Pretty funny and probably only on Vashon.

Having a cougar around takes a little getting used to. They are a class A predator and very capable. We say as locals, “Yes, he will take care of some of these darn deer.” Yup, we will put up with so much as long as he is helping out. But the other side of the coin is that we all have big cats in our DNA memory and this adds interesting spice to being outside with this guy who knows where but ever present.

And personally these guys have meaning for me. A while back we had a small group of us known as the Cancer Commandos, that was Jennifer, Bill and myself. We would have some fun with our situation and try to do some good. They both have passed away now leaving me the sole survivor. But I remember one of the things that Jennifer said to me in her last days hooked up to all the tubes and medicines was, “You won’t have to do this, the cougar will get you.” I think about that a lot.

So, you can join this fun by being FB friends with Vashon Cougar. There is some pretty fun and creative stuff on there. Tell him Phil sent you.

Yea, love, Felipe.

After this blogpost gets finished up this morning we have a walk. Have to throw on a sweater or jacket these days. But it is darn beautiful with the leaves doing their color change. It’s all special.

Most Thursday mornings lately I have been walking with Jen and Jim and then afterward we do archery. It is a fun morning. They are well into the beginner stage of slinging arrows and are moving along nicely. I always look forward to our sessions.

The rest of the day is devoted to more vehicle and equipment maintance. These are all things that need to be addressed before winter. Winter mode is demanding and things go a lot easier when there aren’t last minute emergencies. Just stuff that one learns over the years. Every month has it’s duties as well as it’s particular joys to attend to and to look forward to.

That reminds me to pick apples off this particular tree that we planted years ago and finally it is producing. Actually it is the tree that Wiley and I are pruning in a scene in Phil’s Camino – So Far So Good. It was wild and unpruned for years because we lost track of it in the brambles but we cleared that area and it is out in the open. Nice to find a long lost friend.

Time to find my boots for the grass is wet out there in the mornings. Maybe I should use my poles. OK, pretty low keyed morning here at Raven Ranch and glad you stopped by. October loves, Felipe.

We had a great walk yesterday afternoon with our buddies Catherine and Dana back from their Dales Way trek in England. So, I tried to get some of the news and idea of it all. Over there the locals say, “the fells and the dales” for the hills and the dales or the hills and the valleys. Lots of pasture and sheep there in that territory.

Here is a copy and paste from Wikipedia: “1The Dales Way is an 80-mile (130 km) long-distance footpath in Northern England,[1] from (south-east to north-west) Ilkley, West Yorkshire, to Bowness-on-Windermere, Cumbria. This walk was initially devised by the West Riding Ramblers’ Association with the ‘leading lights’ being Colin Speakman and Tom Wilcock (Foootpath Secretary).[2] The route was announced to the public in 1968 and the first recorded crossing was by a group of Bradford Grammar School Venture Scouts in 1969.

Dales Way
Kettlewell(StevePartridge)Aug2005.jpg
Kettlewell lies on the trail

Length
80 miles (130 km)

Location
Northern England

Trailheads
Ilkley, Yorkshire
Bowness-on-Windermere, Cumbria

Use
Hiking

Elevation
Highest point
Cam Houses, 490 m (1,610 ft)

The Dales Way passes through two National Parks: the Yorkshire Dales National Park and the Lake District National Park. The first half of the walk follows the River Wharfe upstream to the main watershed of Northern England at Ribblehead.[3] The second half follows several river valleys (Dentdale, River Mint, River Kent) to descend to the shores of Windermere.”

Their group got caught in the tail end of a hurricane that was going through the British Iles coming off of the North Atlantic. The wind and rain were blowing sideways and all they could do was laugh at the situation. That’s the pilgrim way right there. But in spite of that they made it through wet but uninjured. Yay team!

Well, I am back under my truck today, hopefully my last day with this project I undertook. It seemed like an innocent enough project at the beginning but it turned into a long trail of rusty bolts and profanity. Some parts had to be sawn up and removed in the old “divide and conquer” method. This is what my doctors probably see when they look at my insides. “Sorry guys but we have more miles to go, patch me up one more time.”

Yea, here we are in October with a definite chill in the morning here on the Island. William our Canadian Bureau Chief is reporting snow in Calgary and not just a dusting. Here is his sunflower lately:

Off to town for more nuts and bolts. Fall is in the air loves, Felipe.

We had a surprise visit by one of our old Caminohead friends, Esther Jantzen yesterday. Just here for a couple hours of hours and then gone again. She is such a nomad. But you know that I don’t usually mention last names here at the blog but some folks have published books or on the verge of publishing and then I do. For instance, I have mentioned our friends Annie O’Neil, Catherine Johnson and Terry Hershey because they are in the news anyway.

Yea, so Esther has a book out entitled Walk. It was written for the middle school teenage reader. It is an adventure story taking place on the Camino de Santiago. Yea! My Rebecca, Kelly and I read one of the versions back a few years ago and the final product is here! Check it out, Walk by Esther Jantzen.

Such interesting folks come and go. We always appreciate whatever time they spend with us, these nomads. They are the herbs and spices for us whose lives are less lively.

Well, walking this afternoon at 4 and tapas after. Catherine y Dana are coming and we will hear about their trip. Always fun to get a travel report. Stop by if you have the time.

Off I go loves, Felipe.

That’s what I’m answering from now on, “Santiago Class of 2014!” How can I not? It was my finishing school this Camino. It didn’t take four or six years but just a month or two. It didn’t cost major money but 30 euros a day. What is this thing?

I can’t believe that I have been writing this blog for over four years (1700+ posts) and I am not sure that I am any closer to answering that question. What is this thing? We have sliced and diced it a hundred ways. We have put it back together in different forms just to learn. We have studied it’s long history. We have slept on it and dreamt about it. We have day dreamed about it. We have remembered it every day since.

We continually long for people to come along who are willing to hear us prattle on about it, the poor folks. Every little detail seems important and relevant and worth repeating. Little things seem to become big and big things somehow get put in place. It seems a perfect balance after all.

We finally understand the statement, “When you get to Santiago your Camino begins.” That took a long while to accomplish and was a Camino in itself. People around you were patient, bless them.

And over time you have influenced others to go and walk their own Caminos. You are sort of proud of that. It seems part of your new configuration that has come about. You now the evangelist, who would have thought?

And mysteries have appeared but they no long bother you. They seem a natural part of the landscape and have come to be cherished. You seem touched by that, the mystery. It lingers like a smoke or a mist but doesn’t hinder you. And maybe that is the final thought that the Camino is part of that mystery to be cherished rather than to be figured out. Yes, “Santiago, Class of 2014!” Plan on meeting me there.

Love in the mist, Felipe.

Here’s our general schedule til the time changes and our afternoon walks then will start 1/2 hour earlier:

Monday 0900-1000
Tuesday 1600-1700
Thursday 0900-1000
Sunday 1600-1700

But here are some dates when the trail will NOT be open:

Sunday Oct 14
Monday Oct 15
Tuesday Oct 16
Sunday Oct 21
Monday Oct 22

Stay informed loves, Felipe.