The wedding of our son Wiley here at the ranch approaches.  The frenzy intensifies.  I know it is all for a good cause but please everyone keep it to a dull roar.  I guarantee that we are going to have a good time no matter if all the details get worked out or not.  That’s my call.

Gorgeous morning here at the ranch.  This is the July that we all wait for.  I am working hard getting firewood split and stacked for the dark days of winter.  It always looks so good freshly stacked like so much money in the bank.  We had two little boys here yesterday who were full of questions about everything at the ranch.  They were especially intrigued by the firewood.  “What is that?”  “What do you use it for?”  They have such fresh eyes.

The Sunday walk yesterday was with a family from California on a road trip in the Northwest.  The man I met on one of my  film trips.  He is a medical doctor working in cancer rehabilitation, my favorite topic, well next to the Camino of course.  So we grabbed and gabbed.  I think that this is the genesis of some more trips down south.

The corn is tasseling out in the field.  It is a run away scene out there with the weeds gone crazy and the deer eating the weeds.  We are getting to that time of year due mostly to the dry conditions of late summer when the deer suffer for lack of suitable eats.  I have cut down whole trees in the past to feed them during these times.

Those little boys asking questions left a big impression on me.  It gave me a sense of how maybe out of the ordinary we are here on our little island with our little island life style.    Things that I take for granted are out of the ordinary for others.   Well, I guess that is what travel is for, mixing it up.

Mixing it up loves, Felipe.

My Rebecca got me out for some culture last evening.  I was so dog tired that I almost didn’t go but had a great time and uplifting experience.  Pat Wright was here on the Island with the Total Experience Gospel Choir.  Man we were all under her spell with that high energy show.  Unfortunately this is her last year heading up the group, time to retire.  So, if you have a chance to catch a show, do it.

Have more guests from out of town coming here this afternoon.  Man, Phil’s Camino is the place to be this summer, lot’s-o-pilgrims.  I have to go here pretty quick to do some preparation for that.  If you are in the area have are in striking distance of Vashon come by.  We can always handle a few more.

The best to you always.  July loves, Felipe.

I don’t know how many darn times that I’ve tried to answer the “why me” question as it relates to my cancer.  Wish I had a nickel for each one.  But it is a maturing process to try and come to grips with that.   One of those no stone is safe from being overturned as my quest goes on.  And that journey reveals so much, as a pilgrimage is more about the doing than the destination.

St Paul had an unnamed affliction that me continually prayed about for relief.  And that never came for him.  And I ponder this.  How does that work?  He as the chief evangelist in the spread of the Good News to the bigger world had a big job to do and wouldn’t he have been more effective if he was without this “thorn”.   Why would God leave it in place?

I, of course,  am not comparing myself to St. Paul but only as an individual with a burden as we all have of one sort or another.  We all could ask the “why me”question at some point in our lives and even often maybe.

At Bible Guys today with the help of my fellow students I uncovered a quote from St. Paul in Second Corinthians, chapter 12 verses 6-12.  This is from the Message a paraphrase of the Greek in modern English:

”If I had a mind to brag a little, I could probably do it without looking ridiculous, and I’d still be speaking plain truth all the way.  But I’ll spare you.  I don’t want anyone imagining me as anything other than the fool you’d encounter if you saw me on the street or heard me talk.

”Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn’t get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations.  Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he did in fact was push me to my knees.  No danger then of walking around high and mighty!  At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it.  Three times I did that, and then he told me,

”My grace is enough; it is all you need.

My strength comes into its own in your weakness.

”Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen.  I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift.  It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in my own weakness.  Now I take my limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that can cut me down to size – abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks.  I just let Christ take over!  And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.”

That is something to consider as we sit in the shade in between chores.  I have found that most of the harder nuts in the Bible can’t be cracked with earthly logic but only yield to creative thinking.  And here we are.

Love, Felipe.

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Looks like another hot one today.  July on Vashon, the grass is mostly dying from lack of water.  It begins to look like another place this time of year which will get back to being green in September and October.  Sitting writing this post in the cool early morning before the hustle and bustle of the day.

I am working on getting the firewood in for the winter, a little behind schedule this year.  The tractor is humming away powering the hydraulic log splitter.  And voilá out comes fuel for those wet dark months.

In the neighborhood it is Anamaria’s birthday tomorrow.  She walked with her buddies Alida and Laura and they all joined Kelly and our gang on the trail in 2014.  Hot days there too in Pamplona, Estrella and Viana in August.  Anamaria became known as the Princess of Viana.  Maybe I can find pic.  Happy Birthday Amiga!

Thinking about yesterday with all the great pilgrims that came to walk Phil’s Camino.  Not only walk but converse and share information and inspiration.  Many good things came out of that exchange.  Have to mention that Dan from Olympia got a boat load of extra credit for showing up with his official t-shirt.

Some talk yesterday centered around the Lourdes Pilgrimage also.  And it sparked some reflections which maybe we can cover tomorrow.  Graces are still coming to us from there and may they continue.

So, thank you Dan and Jeanne, Chuck and Linda and Joe and Terry for sharing the trail yesterday and for bringing your energy.  Please come back again when you get a chance. And Happy Birthday to the POV.  You all make it happen!

Dusty loves again, Felipe.

A beautiful July morning here in the neighborhood.  The sky is blue and a slight hint of a breeze.  I am anticipating pilgrims coming for our 9 AM walk.  Two parties actually.  Usually we are not that busy but it is the summer rush.

A group is coming from St Michael’s Parish in Olympia, WA.  Olympia is the capitol of our state and south about 45 minutes on I-5.  If I am not mistaken they have a cancer survivors group and this is some of them.  Welcome!

And Terry and Joe Matthews from California will be here.  Terry wrote the book Cancer: Exploring Your Path.  We talked about this on the blog in the past when I had read it but just in case you missed it it is a guide to a person fresh into the cancer scene when things are overwhelming.  Those are hard days and this book seems like the ticket.  Thank you Terry for that effort.  Welcome Terry and Joe.

I liked the blog post yesterday.  I feel like we have arrived in a big sense.  More to come on that in future days I am sure.

Time to go find my boots and logbook loves, Felipe.

Four years ago now Kelly and Rick and I were putting the finishing touches on our training before our big adventure in Spain, time was getting short.    I guess we are having fun since time is flying so.  And Caminoheads the blog is cruising on in that four years doing what it does best, keeping the flame of the Way going.  And the documentary film Phil’s Camino has a life of it’s own doing what it does best, inspiring those that need it.  And that effort has morphed into the hour long version Phil’s Camino, So Far So Good.  Alperfect once again.

Just like on the Camino it is better to think about the miles that you have accomplished than to dwell on how many more you have to go and how that will happen.  I really don’t know where all this is going, this effort of ours.  Well, other than ultimately, “This train is bound for glory!”  We know that.  But I think that Caminoheads instead of a movement toward a goal or an effort designed to accomplish something is more of a zone to be in.  A place to be, a sanctuary as our friend Terry Hershey calls it.  Lately we have been using the word neighborhood, thank you Mr Rogers.

A place to be.  A place to be at the tapas table again.  Ah, that brings a tear.  No big explanation needed there.  We are grateful that somehow we were called to be a part of this.

And at the same time it is not some sort of exclusive club.  We don’t say that we are somehow special.  This Camino dust that we have been inoculated with is free for anyone everywhere, at any time.

And then the trail here at Raven Ranch is another part of this neighborhood.  It lives on because it seems to fulfill what we need, what we have been waiting for.  Always ready for us to thread on it’s back.

I guess that I needed this today, to look back at where we have come, the miles already walked.  Always remembering though that it is this present moment that is most important, that is the address of the neighborhood where we want to be.

A long way dusty loves, Felipe.

Yup, that is on my list today.  We have a lot of pilgrims coming and trail cleanup is always happening.  Of course, Spain has manure, maybe I should leave it.

We have a walk this afternoon at four.  The daughter of my oldest friend is coming.  I haven’t seen her in many ages.  And maybe Father David will show up, he’s been threatening lately.   We could talk about his last homily.  One line of it has stuck with me bigtime, “healing is a form of reconciliation”.  Let’s talk more about that Father.

What is that line from Phil’s Camino, “healing is being reconciled with the bigger picture”?  I think that we are on the same page there.  Perhaps there is more that we can uncover if we work at it.  Some of this stuff is akin to, “you can have your cake and eat it too”.  In other words, they are way better than they even first appear.

Sometimes words fail us and that is a sign.  If we are talking about a topic that is hard for us to articulate then perhaps we are on uncharted ground, it is an area that we are unfamiliar with, we don’t have the words.  I think that is an interesting place to be, a place of discovery where we are not just shoveling our usual manure.

I think that Wiley and Hanna are back from their short California trip.  They got in at midnight so they are probably sleeping in.  Maybe they need some milk from town?

Miss you, love you, Felipe.

Guess who showed up for yesterday’s walk?  The very Rick and his daughter Maryka that  walked with me over the last stretch of the Camino in 2014.  They have a cameo in Phil’s Camino showing us going into Santiago together, four years ago now.

Maryka’s Mom Carolyn and friend Anthony were here hiking and joining us at the tapas table yesterday also.   Oh, the weather is so glorious for us now to do these get togethers.  You will have to stop by.

In the early 1950’s a watercolor painting showed up in Ford Times magazine depicting a scene on Vashon Island.  Ford Times was a publication that promoted vacation car travel.  And you can see the pic for today is this painting.  It is of the back side of the Burton Community Church, My Rebecca’s church, with Quartermaster Harbor in the background.

This week we have at least three parties from out of town to do Phil’s Camino.   Wiley and Hanna’s wedding is coming up in less than a month.  All kinds of activity going on.  So we are busy but fun busy.

Oh, and the corn miracle that happened, the deer that are braving the electric fence and getting into the corn have switched from eating the crop to eating the weeds.  How about that?  There is some nightshade that is related to tomatoes and potatoes growing in there that they love.  So, I am not going to stand in the way of volunteerism on this one.

Well, just a little catch up on the news here at Raven Ranch going on here today.  All the news fit to print so to speak.  None of it earthshaking but important to us nonetheless in the history of us.   I like that, The History of Us, has a certain ring.

Off we go to walk, 0900 on a Monday.  Always good, love, Felipe.

These are the very summer days that we dreamed about all winter.  Come by.

Monday 0900-1000

Tuesday 1600-1700

Thursday 0900-1000

Sunday 1600-1700

Would be great to see you, Felipe.x

We got two tremendous comments from the Caminoheads Neighborhood on yesterday’s Intrepid Little Flower post.  We are so blessed to have such talent, experience and sources of inspiration feeding into us.  Am publishing both their comments right here, right now:

“Phil, knowing plants, I think those little blue flowers will be BACK, because the sweeper scrubber did not get the ROOTS.  Check next time you are there…

“All these plants in cracks reminds me of being in China bringing home one of my girls, a small city for China, standing at an intersection, a 1’by 1′ triangle by the road, with a full grown cabbage!  Right there!  I wondered who would eat it, how who would harvest it was decided… but that space was occupied and opulent:).  Also I wondered why my cabbages are not so beautiful:).  This was not a prime growing spot!

”Lots to think about.  love, Michelle”

“Hola Amigo Felipe!

“I was looking for just the right opening to tell you about Camino-connected stuff “flowering” in my neck o’ the woods, and you have certainly provided it today!

“Item one, the anesthesiologist who took me “under” for my cardiac bypass surgery and made sure all systems were working during the procedure contacted me last week. We had spent some quality time both pre and post surgery talking about my activities before the heart operation. He was most intrigued by the Camino saga, and the seed was planted in fertile soil. His call was to let me know he is taking his two young teen daughters and going to walk two weeks of the Camino starting August 1st. They hope to make it a yearly event as the girls grow up and add two weeks walking every year from the point they finish up the prior year. I was just thrilled by this news and told him how proud I was of his decision. He turned it right around and gave ME all the credit for doing such an inspiring thing to prompt others to “go and do also”.

“And the second Camino-connected event is even more powerful. A friend I met at a CEW (Christian Experience Weekend) retreat several years ago was using the event as a help in his dealing with the death of his wife by cancer. His daughters were only 7 and 9 years old at the time of their mom’s passing. We really bonded at the retreat and have stayed closely connected, if only by calling and writing. He used the CEW experience to help him decide to enter the deaconate program at St Ambrose U. After a year of that, it was clear to him that his true calling was to the Priesthood. His daughters enthusiastically supported his decision and are his biggest fans. No surprise there, huh? As he was nearing the end of his studies, he felt strongly called to walk the Camino following his ordination. He too remembered my enthusiasm in describing this amazing Pilgrimage when I presented the talk at CEW gatherings. He and a fellow priest did in fact walk the entire Camino Frances and felt it provided them with many answers to the questions that go with the beginnings of priesthood.

“The “Rest of the Story” wonderful part is, Fr Bill has just been assigned to our Parish!! What a thrill this is for all of us, and just as thrilling for him, as he will be within 20 miles of the town his now-grown daughters live in. How’s that for blooming where you’re planted!

“A long post, but I don’t think there’s a charge for excessive verbiage. 😉

“Blooming!
Semper Fi,
PFJ”

OK, lot’s of good verbiage and things to think about here.  As for Felipe this pulls his 3C’s together nicely.  Let’s review now, remember the 3C’s are Cancer, Catholicism and Camino, not sure of the order.  In other words those might be thought about as the Crack, the Seed and the Bloom.  As Michelle said, “OCCUPIED AND OPPULENT”.  That is new, big and bold!  I will have to grow into that!

Feeling totally full, thanks, love Felipe.