(Here is a comment from our trusty South American Bureau Chief.  The idea has surfaced recently that what we are doing here at the blog is running a Mr Rogers’ type neighborhood for, yes, Caminoheads.  So, here she is giving us her take on the situation. I love this.  She deserves a raise. )

Querido Felipe,

Yes, where is your cardigan???!!! I read something about Mr Rogers (actually about the movie), and i thought: wait! Phil and “us” are doing the same in Caminoheads!!! So yes, this is a neighborhood, we cross our paths walking, we get to chat (via the comments or mails or Skype calls), and then we get the salon, it is like the kitchens in the neighborhood houses where we meet for a coffee or a drink and we have our debates… or maybe like the nights in the albergues, in the comunal meals or the noisy restaurants that had pilgrims menues… there the talks just happened and we had revelations!

How good it will be if we could all get back to the neighborhood idea? Wouldn’t it? And by the way, I didn’t watch Mr Rogers ever… it was not aired here, but I listened to Yo Yo Ma saying that the thing he was most proud of was having appeared in Mr Rogers and then, I looked up who he was… truly I would have been very proud to be one of his kids!

Neighbor love and pilgrims love,
Cris

(Yes, where is my cardigan?  We are learning to treat each other like we learned on the Camino.  Once you get that it doesn’t go away.  Alperfect as usual, Mr Felipe.)

Sometimes people can have such bad problems and still have such good outlooks.   They seem to be able to process the situation over time and it takes on a different hue, a different tone.  A context shows up for them.  They see things differently than when they started on that journey.

I had some pilgrims show up yesterday that embodied that to such a degree that it inspired me to the core.  And we don’t have to mention names.   We can deal in ideas and thoughts and inspirations, the tendencies that people have.

Somehow getting a handle on one’s personal suffering or the suffering of someone close seems to be key.  How do we find a context for the things that hurt?  How can we step outside of that hurt to find something vital to our overall being?

This blog post today is largely stream of consciousness.  I am not  thinking so much as relaying.  Sometimes I just have to go with that.

You are the best, thanks for showing up, love, Felipe.

You know that people come to walk Phil’s Camino the trail.  And summertime increases the activity.  I have been calling these folks my doctors, lawyers and Indian chiefs.  Just as the Camino in Spain attracts such an interesting set of people so the Camino here does.  And what we do here I have likened to a salon in the French sense.  I see the mix of all these folks to be a rich brew and I get inspired and new ideas flow.  I get something important out of all this and pilgrims leave with little treasures I know.

Cris has been calling this a neighborhood.  I am liking that a lot, the Caminoheads Neighborhood.  I think actually she was referring to this blog but it works for the walk also.  Maybe the walk is part of the blog or vica versa.   Anyway sort of a Mr Rogers thing going on here now apparently.  Where’s my cardigan?

The sun is out and the sky is blue and we have a walk at 4 PM.  And tapas afterward of course.  My Rebecca might be home by then from her convention in Boulder.  That would be perfect.  But it is always alperfect anyway.

Well, I am going to mosey on, dishes to wash and weeds to pull.  Always good to see you here at the Neighborhood!   Be at peace.  Loves, Felipe.

Here I am.  Getting a late start.  Just wondering how many cups of coffee it is going to take today to get off the ground.

We got a nice comment from Pilgrim Farmer John our old Caminohead buddy from Iowa and our Heartland Bureau Chief.  He is deep into growing corn right now and trying to get an accurate count on just how many grandkids he actually has.  Love you man!

Which brings up the fact that sometimes some of our communication falls through the cracks sometimes for whatever reason.  I don’t always get an answer to someone’s query or request.  I have more traffic than I used to have and it is a challenge to keep up.  So if you think that I didn’t answer your email or message fire it off again please.  Stuff happens mostly in the fat fingering department to screw things up.  Thanks for your patience.

Off I go!  Oh, here comes the sun, loves, Felipe.

Overall summer is getting a rocky start this year.  Must be some bad switch somewhere in the works.  Looking out the big window at the treatment center Downtown Seattle is in the distance.  And there is St James Cathedral.  And there is a seventeen story building going up on the footprint of the old one story McDonald’s.  And the sky overtop with it’s fifty shades of gray.

Yesterday we I was telling you that I was realizing our land, our little ten acres is a creation/destruction machine.  That is so much like my body these days.  My body is that same mixture or has the same dynamic.   I am having a hard time finding the words for this right now but seeing this is one of those overarching realizations that seems healthy.  One does what he can to keep everything in some sort of balance.

Yea, and back to thinking about the land, I will be back there this afternoon with time to get some things done.  I know you are probably bored hearing about this but it is the time of year when there is incredible green growth and most of my energy goes into weeding and mowing.  Need a couple of clones to keep up.

So that’s what it looks like from here,  it’s alperfect, love Felipe.

Maybe just one thought today.  I have too much to accomplish on my one day off between treatment days.  We all know the feeling.

Just had a walk with a couple from the neighborhood that I haven’t met before.  It was lovely to have new Camino pilgrims:  new ideas, new connections which causes new chemistry.  They will be back I am sure, I hope.

But back to my one thought.  Steve-O has been here with his current flat coat retriever who is a giant puppy.  So that sez a lot, he’s big and powerful, playful and goofy, learning and making mistakes.  That’s the dog, Rasmus, not Steve-O.  Just wanted to clarify.  Anyway, we were all out and around the property and Ras picked up one of my handmade by Phil garden stakes and was carrying it around because that what retrievers do.  So he got bored at one point and started gnawing on it which is what puppies do.  And I in my old self or past self would have been mad about that thinking that that was destructive but the first thought out of my mind was, “Oh look, he is celebrating his teeth!”  See the difference.

The property is a giant growth and decay laboratory.  Or it’s creation and destruction together.  Or it’s celebrating and/or madness.  We have to at some point start to embrace those two sides of the coin.

Ah, up up and away, celebrating loves, Felipe.

Monday 0900-1000

Tuesday 1600-1700

Thursday 0900-1000

Sunday 1600-1700

Felipe.x

We went after the walk and tapas to the Pope Francis movie last evening.  That was My Rebecca, Catherine and Dana.  It was a beauty, very moving for us all.  If you get a chance take it in.  And it is not really a Catholic thing but a humanity thing.  He cuts across traditional boundaries to bring people together is what I see.  He is very humble throughout, a breath of fresh air these days.

The way I look at Pope Francis is that he is not your typical Pope.  He seems bigger than  the position.  He is someone that seems to transcend the current situation.  And even transcend Catholicism.  How does that happen?

I don’t think that there is a person alive that he doesn’t challenge with his message.  We all could do better, maybe way better.  But Papa is a compassionate man and he ends the film speaking about the importance of the smile and of humor in our daily travel as to lighten the his message to each one of us.  It was a nice touch.

The turnout at the theater could have been better.  I don’t know the exact reason for that but I think it seemed light for such a good film.  Maybe there is the feeling that it is a “Catholic” movie but I think that would be a mistake.

My Rebecca is off to Boulder, CO for the national gathering of the Threshold Choirs.  She has participated in it for years and it great that she has a chance to go to the big powwow.  These are small groups of women that sing for people that are dying to ease their transition.  What a bunch of angels, right?

Good to see you again.  Walk and tapas love, Felipe.

What a gorgeous morning here at the ranch.  I am out in a chair on the deck writing you and it is the perfect temp.  And all the little birdies are chirping.  The sun is filtering down through the trees.  The perfect morning, thank you to our Creator/ Sustainer.

I feel recovered from the trip to Pacific Grove.   The trip back was trying and took a lot of energy with it’s all it’s flavors of glitches.  But I had plenty of opportunities to practice my serenity.     But here under the cherry tree by the tapas table all seems right.

We are hosting Steve-O and his dog Rasmus here for a few days.  Always interesting times.  They went claming and got some geoducks (goo-e-ducks) and we had pasta with clam sauce last evening, a local delicacy.

We have a plan for this afternoon and evening.  Our walk is at 4 and some folks from the mainland will be here plus Catherine and Dana.  Then tapas and off to see the Pope’s new film at the Vashon Theatre!

Right now Steve and I are going to put in some time in the corn which is teetering on the brink of weed-dom.  And a deer got in and thought the sunflowers were tasty.  It’s all a constant battle.  I need some minions, maybe a dozen please.

Well, you see the picture here.  Will be blogging from the hospital tomorrow.   The  two sides of the same coin.   But it is all do-able and with the right attitude, enjoyable.

Oh, the horses are here from next door.  Yup, well time to go and battle the weeds.  Have a great day where you are.  Summer loves, Felipe.

So, my flight is delayed two hours on my Father’s Day.  Am I complaining, well maybe a little?  It’s with the old pioneer spirit that we face these hardships.  Oops, delayed three hours now.

Here we go, let’s work on a post.  In Pacific Grove we were staying with the Padre and one of the other guests there was his old Camino buddy Father Steve.  He was between assignments and there visiting and resting up.  Father Steve and I spent time conversing as Camino people do and that was most rewarding.  Then he drove me down to catch the shuttle, thanks Father Steve.  

I just take advantage of opportunities like that to converse and bounce ideas around now whenever possible.  The Camino just appears sometimes and you have to jump on it and see where it takes you.  We need to be present to possibilities.  

It was fun to spend some time with Carol, who has handled me before.  That doesn’t quite sound right.  She was my handler on various expeditions in the past.  Always keeping me on time and in the right place.  She was helping Annie with all the details of the trip.  

Other familiar faces were there in the audience on Friday evening.  We are starting to have old friends wherever we go, especially in California.  Great that see all them.  And friends bring friends, so the whole thing grows.

I guess nothing majorly profound here today.  Just travel thoughts going on.  Oh, people are starting to fill up the seats around me at the gate, maybe there is hope for a flight.

Tomorrow is another day.  Miss and love all you guys, Felipe.