The four of us are sitting here hashing things out and I am not gettering anything done on writing here today. Maybe that is how it goes today. Now there is a lull.
Maybe it would be a good idea to pray for Betsy and her brave Camino. Such a story she has. Praying for strength for her.
Well, I guess I am not going to fight it today. I can catch up with you at another time. We are in it for the long run, we know that. Love you, alperfect, Felipe.
We have a bunch of company that is coming through here this month. Jim and Gloria are starting the parade. Jim being my oldest friend back from childhood in Buffalo, NY and Gloria his wife. They both walked the Camino last summer.
Jim is a physician, retired for a few years. His father also was a doctor and was our family doctor back when I was a kid. I remember him making a house call to see me when I was seven years old and suffering with chicken pox. House calls, that’s old school.
Him and I were up at zero dark thirty this morning and have been talking up a storm trying too catch up on all the news. One thing that we talked about that may interest you is that I want to record a conversation with him about an area of my life that has not been sufficiently explored or documented. Let me try and explain.
For six years I have been wrestling with cancer and it’s associated experiences. And for six years the doctors and nurses have been recording millions of facts about my case. Not a misplaced hair goes unrecorded. All this data is available for use. That is a track that is ongoing. So, now on the other hand we have this blog which is another track which has been going on for three and a half years. Everyday I have recorded info that relates to the cancer in some way. That is track number two which is very personal in another way.
So these two tracks are moving along parallel with each other, sort of unaware of each other even though they are intimately connected. So I am asking Jim to help me connect them more closely and to possiblely explore the area between them to see what we can find. It seems this may be important someone. So, that is in the works, stay tuned.
The weather is beautiful here but chilly. Hope you are doing well. Love, Felipe.
Maureen wrote the nicest comment on Caminoheads a couple of days ago. It was a little personal so I asked her permission to post it here. I was so moved by Maureen’s words and sentiments. You can sense the quality here. Thanks M.
Comment:
Hi Phil
Just want to say what a blessing you are to so many! I love reading your blog and continue to keep you in my thoughts and prayers! You keep us all focused on what is really important in our daily lives. We are all pilgrims among pilgrims.
I wanted to share about a very dear friend that is currently walking the Camino in Spain. She left on September 20, & will be gone till November 2. Her name is Betsy. She is one of the most inspiring and courageous women I know. We taught together at the same elementary school. When we first met, she was celebrating being a breast cancer survivor. Her favorite color is purple & she decorated her clsssroom with that color (even sometimes colored her hair) as a bold proclamation of her fight! She walked the 60 mile Avon Breast Cancer walk from Santa Barbara to LA, she still surfs, recently hiked the Grand Canyon, and it is clear that she lives life to the fullest, having stared down death! Her daughter struggled with high school foreign language classes and took sign language as an alternative. As a show of support, Betsy took classes with her daughter & went on to get another degree in sign language & transferred out of elementary school to teach high school sign language classes. In the past few years, Betsy has had many set-backs. Her husband left her for a younger woman, & her breast cancer returned after 7 years. She fought back in her “usual sometimes irreverent style”! At a Christmas party with a group of teachers, she proudly wore a t-shirt that proclaimed: “Yes these are fake, my real ones tried to kill me!” But her biggest battle was still yet to come. She retired a year ago, and had just visited her son last October who was a Maritme sailor. She was so proud of him & posted a picture of the visit with her 2 sons on Facebook. Three days later, Jack was killed riding his bike home from dinner. He was struck by a speeding car & killed instantly. It was incomprehensible to see her very next Facebook post with a picture of Betsy & Jack holding their surfboards & Betsy writing: Do not Rest In Peace my son, ride the Big One”. She celebrated Jack’s life with a “paddle-out” in Laguna Beach. I last saw Betsy at Christmas and she mentioned that a friend had been talking about walking the Camino in Spain. Though I have not walked the Camino, I shared my story of surrendering my son’s alcoholism & ultimate homelessness, meeting Annie & you through our Curch’s Camino in Lake Forest & how life changing it has been for me! Betsy wrote right before she left for Spain that “apparently God wanted her to walk in Spain alone” because her friend that was supposed to go, lost her home in the Florida hurricane! I KNEW that she would never be alone & praying that she would feel that amazing awareness on her Camino. She just posted: “the cat is out of the bag; I am spreading Jack’s ashes”. This brought tears to my eyes & goosebumps; reminiscent of Martin Sheen in “The Way”. I just had to write & ask for your prayers & perhaps you would like to mention her on your blog. Buen Camino Betsy!
Sincerely, Maureen
(a fellow pilgrim from Santiago De Compostela Parish in Lake Forest)
See what I mean? Just pure quality there in and around those words. There Maureen, Caminoheads worldwide will pray for your Betsy and be inspired by her great story.
Our world may seem chaotic and scary but our hearts are moving in the right direction. This is where the relevant work is taking place at this time. Realize that, hold on to it.
Love you, Felipe.
I was all pumped earlier this morning to write about some good news in the neighbor hood and we will get back to it shortly. But first we have to cover this tragedy that happened in Las Vegas yesterday and was all over the morning news. It hangs like something heavy on me now. We need to work through at least some of it to clear some room.
It is the killing of the innocents one more time. Two things come up with me at this moment and I need to start somewhere so here we are. One, is the question of how anyone could work themselves into a place where they would think this was a good idea to embrace and implement. Two, I am always struck by how quickly evil can be perpetrated. To do good always seems like life’s work and the opposite in comparison.
Every week I light candles at church for the projects that I have heard of that are on my mind. People, angels really, get it in their mind to build a dream that would be so good for so many. Maybe it is a medical facility that is long my needed or a program to help a certain segment of the population that needs extra care. And they struggle and struggle to make headway. Everything thing seems uphill. I light my little candles and pray my little prayers as these certain individuals heroically sacrifice. Good seems to take so long and to be such a chore. Is there a word for this?
Ah, a little room and just enough to say how happy our family is at the moment. Our son Wiley and Henna got officially engaged yesterday. We are so happy for them. It is a moment to celebrate and remember. It is the start of bigger and better things for them and for us. It is a milestone along their journey that will go on to places beyond the horizon. All good, uberperfect and even alperfect, here’s to you our children!
OK, a tough day to write a post on. Time to get organized and walk Phil’s Camino next. It looks gray but dry out, comfortable walking temp. Maybe someone will show up or maybe I will say the rosary a time or two for our world. Always, love, Felipe.
According to the Agricultural Forecast it is supposed to be nice for the next two weeks. So we will be walking right through all that.
Monday 0900-1000
Tuesday 1600-1700
Thursday 0900-1000
Sunday 1600-1700
Hope to see you, Felipe.x
The first day of October and had our first fire in the woodstove. The system is all working well and ready for the really bad weather, it is just playing around right now. What is the prediction for this winter? Anyone have the latest copy of Farmer’s Almanac?
Just back from Mass. I felt like I floated through the whole thing. That’s a good thing when everything feels right and there is nothing to worry about, just be there. Life should be like that, right?
This is theoretically my Pyrenees weekend or my low point in my chemo cycle but I only got half a treatment this last session because of my allergic reaction so maybe it will be a breeze. I could use a breeze; you could use a breeze.
So company coming Tuesday and pretty much have company the whole month. Well that is all different company. So it will be stimulating I am sure. This is Phil’s Camino at it’s finest. So, yes, you need to come when the chance presents itself.
We had a fun event going on here yesterday. Wiley hosted a group here called Journeymen. They are a group of adult men who mentor young men. Wiley with the help of his buddy James put on an archery shoot for them. They all had a good time. It was fun for me to watch the goings on from the sidelines. Boys like projectiles, no way around it.
OK, I am off to finish staining our decks. The weather will hopefully cooperate. This will spruce up the tapas area. OK, you are on my mind. Love, Felipe.x
Here we are the last weekend of September and did we get every summer activity in this year? NO! I know it is the old story. There never seems to be enough time, that is my big complaint in life. Well, I guess that beats being bored all the time.
Anyway finally got some sleep after my outbreak of side effects. A little bit of a roller coaster this time around. Looking forward to two weeks of smoother sailing. Have company coming and need to make the most of that.
Have to run to my Bible Guys class now but will be back. We will be working on the 23rd Psalm today, a classic. Be back. OK, here I am almost noontime.
The 23rd Psalm is about the sheep and the shepard. Mankind, us, being the sheep and Christ being the shepard. It is very well known and easy to find so I won’t go into it. But the most interesting part of the lesson was a reading that our leader did of a written piece on just how “dumb” sheep can be. They cannot exist on their own because of all the trouble that they can get into and not get out of without help. They just need the shepard.
And at some point in this process we were struck by how “dumb” humans can be. Not that we are like sheep exactly but that we have our own set of ways to get into trouble, our own pitfalls. Addiction comes to mind just for starters and there are plenty of others. But the point being that we all need guidance.
Love you, miss you, Felipe.
My Rebecca used that word “futz” this morning. My mother used to use that word and haven’t heard it for centuries. It may fit my blog post this morning. I’ve been with little sleep over the past two nights, steroid side effect, so I may futz myself through this whole day.
futz – waste time, idle or busy oneself aimlessly.
futz around with – deal with (something) in a trifling way; fiddle with.
Yea, that’s what I’m talking about. I am going to futz with my day today.
William from Calgary sent some nice pics of a two day hike he did with some students in the Canadian Rockies. But what was super nice were pics of places were he prayed for me. How about that? Love that guy and I hope to meet him one day.
Jim my oldest friend and his wife Gloria are going to be here next week. Annie my producer/director will be here also. She has a film in the Tacoma Film Festival. So we will be visiting.
Raining out now. The weather is starting to change. But I have been telling you that but still it is the most significant happening here at this time.
Well, time to futz forward or futz onward. Love you guys, Felipe.
Still mostly summer here with hints of things to come. Morning walks have wet grass so wear your boots and afternoon walks you can go with shoes or sandals.
Monday 0900-1000
Tuesday 1600-1700 ( tapas and wine after)
Thursday 0900-1000
Sunday 1600-1700 ( tapas and wine after)
As exceptions to the rule will be traveling Oct 15-19 and Nov 1-6. Felipe.
Yea, feeling beat up after a hard day at the office yesterday. It was my seventh round of the hard stuff chemo treatment. We were shooting for eight but my body rebelled with an allergic reaction. So, they shut the treatment down and we worked on calming my body down. It is all a challenge. So, it is time to regroup with a scan and a new approach.
Balancing all that is the incredible support that I have in the thoughts and prayers of people that I know and some that I’ve never met. Ultimately this makes everything right. Ultimately we are in this flow of pilgrims that will take us home. Just like in Spain in the afternoon after a hot day of walking and our group was mostly brain dead someone would be capable of herding the rest of into shelter. We are all headed to shelter whether we can see it from here or not.
I just was thinking about Puerto Rico and was on the computer so I Googled one of my old Marine Corp buddies. Found out that wild child turned out to be a career police officer for the city of Chicago. Who would have thought? He passed away at 62 in 2010 according to the obit.
Ok, off to my walk this AM. Looks pretty nice out and according to the weatherman one of our last days of summer. Good, let’s get out there and enjoy it, uberperfect, love, Felipe.