This is a visual for the August 24th post about Ray:

I hope that you all got to read that story yesterday.  Love that guy and love his story.  It is so inspiring to see how one guy on his own came up with something like that.  Obviously he wasn’t totally alone as he was plugged into the learning of his day.  But he was on his own maybe is a better way to say it.

Somehow these days we are conditioned to thinking that we have to work for some big outfit or have massive backing or have degrees hanging on the wall to make a difference.  Isn’t it inspiring to get this glimpse of one man’s thinking and his acting on that thinking.  What if more of us had this notion that there were still great things to be done and we individually could access the process.  We would have amazing potential if we realized we had amazing potential.

Just some Sunday morning thoughts.  I’m off to a going away party for my buddy Sister Joyce.  So, sad in one way.  But we will all realign and regroup and carry on.  It ‘s all Buen Camino.  Love, Felipe.

We have the ultimate second hand store here on the Island called Granny’s Attic.  One time years ago I was there and met a book entitled Mapping by Author David  Greenhood.  And I did my usual test by opening to a random page to see what was going on and what did I run into but this very story.

This very story is definitely on my top ten list along with St. Paul on the road to Damascus or Moses parting of the Red Sea.  So this guy our today’s story guy was a poet and a librarian and he figured out most elegantly an important scientific measurement way ahead of science.   One guy with a little math and a big imagination.  Are we capable of stuff like this?  Can discover things in our backyards?  You’ll like this:

Yours, love, Felipe.

Yesterday was day ten that the roadside stand has been open and and have been selling pretty much everything.  Occasionally there are a few ears left over.  The early corn is finally hitting its stride now as the later corn looms.  But I had this idea to create a little advertising gimmick, well actually a big advertising gimmick.  I said to myself maybe I need to whittle out an eight foot tall ear of corn, all painted up fancy to put out by the stand.  Can’t miss that right?  This is life at the ranch.

The other thing I am trying to accomplish is to finish the rebuild on our shower.  Back thirty five years ago we tiled the area around the tub and creating this flying barn swallow mosaic.  Well a small area finally fell apart last year and it has been begging for attention.  So finally I am rebuilding it.  This will be a great one to get off the list.

Sorry, this all seems so minor in the grand scale of things but it is our life today.  And that’s what counts really, how we live our life today maybe in spite the grand scale of things.  Also I am excited about tomorrow and the blogpost.  I’m going to run off and have one of my Bible Guys scan a few pages of a book entitled Mapping so I can put it up on the blog tomorrow.  This is such a great story and a total inspiration for me.  Just want to share it.  So just giving you a warning, prepare, you may be inspired!

OK, time to cement in the soap dish.  Have to get it in place in the wet mortar and then prop it up with approximately thirty five sticks.  What a riot!

Love you like a riot, Felipe.

Yesterday amongst all the stuff I was trying to scratch off my to-do list I wanted to get up to town for Ray’s party.  By town I mean Vashon town not Seattle.  This was definitely a home town deal I was after.

Ray was an Army vet, school teacher kind of guy.  And somehow before you know it he had worked 38 years at the local lumber yard.  He was that guy.  And he was finally retiring and the yard was throwing him a party.  Yea so, I got up there to pay tribute to Ray the guy that kept the beat, that guy.

When I think back on people that have been influences in my life over the years I have a lot of guys that were Ray kind of guys.  I don’t know if the world has a lot of them or whether my particular life had a lot of them or whether I just noticed them, sort of picked them out.  But whatever Ray was that guy in his particular universe, the lumber yard.

Now as I think about this I realize that I may be that guy for a set of  people.  There are hundreds of cancer patients that I come into contact with either directly or indirectly.  And the nurses at the hospital tell me I am on uncharted ground with my 101 chemo treatments.  Am I that guy who shows other people the way?   Am I the guy that people look to to see on how it should be done?  Could be I guess.

It sounds like a big responsibility although it isn’t rocket surgery.  Just sort of one foot in front of the other and keeping it all going forward cheerfully.  Geez that makes it sound like I march around at the hospital singing camp songs.  Well that is not the case but there is something here.

So, walking in a few minutes.  We are  having a little rain today.  Wet love, Felipe.

Back in July I flew down to Orange County, CA to be with the folks at Santiago de Compostela Church.  Annie and I showed Phil’s Camino four times and did the old Q and A’s.  And I got invited to speak which you can watch on the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O386_2l1r1A&sns=em

Interesting to watch yourself in that situation.  And we are still mopping up after the big event of the eclipse.  I have since heard that the Atlantic salmon accidental release only involved some of the total fish, not all.  That’s good or better anyway.

Weather is changing here with a cloudy day today and maybe rain tomorrow.  It doesn’t look like Orange County around here.  But it is perfect working weather.  Always stuff to do here around the ranch, that’s guaranteed.

Well maybe this is just a shorty today.  Time to jump up and make things happen for Felipe.  Hope that you are doing well.  We are still praying for all the rocks on the rockpile here at Phil’s Camino.  There are thousands of stones on there each with a message, thought or intention.  It is part of my routine to involve myself with that pile.

You’re the best, love, Felipe.

Yup, I’m thinking most everyone survived the big eclipse.  Seems, eyedoctors are getting folks with damaged eyes, that I’ve heard.  Also there was a ecological disaster up here in Puget Sound.  I don’t know all the details on this one but so far the word is that there was an unusually high tide associated with the eclipse and it caused the failure for the containment of Atlantic Salmon at a fish farm north of here.  The Atlantic part is the big problem.  There was 300,000 fish some or all at 10 pounds apiece.  The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is declaring open season, no limit on those invaders.  Stuff like that you can’t make up.

Here at the ranch things are a little calmer.  Our company is gone and we are getting back to normal.  That was our daughter Tesia and here husband Ramon and our grandson Osian.

Our friend Steve or Steve-O or Esteban sent an email in response to yesterday’s blogpost and I thought that I would put it up here for your enjoyment.  He could easily have his own blog.  Yup:

What a great real-time post! I loved it!
Interestingly, I remember the eclipse in ’72 (?) to be about the same.

This time I still didn’t notice any ancient Druidic past -life spirit appearing to take me into a timeless insight into the Magik of the Olde Days (Daze?). Mostly, it just got a little darker (93% of total down here; ’bout the same on Vashon), the temp went down a few delightful degrees, and then in a minute or so it got all bright, hot and smoky again. No animals went berserk, either. Mostly, it was like a dark raincloud passing before the sun for a few minutes. Never seen THAT before…

So, we all survived. 98 more years to the next one like that, they say. Thinkin I’ll prolly miss it.

Anyway— your post was terrific.

Esteban

Well, time to pick some corn for the stand, fresh every day.  By the way I looked at the corn in the grocery store this morning and it was really old and bad and looked like some kind of four letter word.

love, Felipe.

Eclipse morning here at Raven Ranch, actually it has started according to all the news.  Funny, I don’t feel any different yet.  The sky here is totally clear so we are good to go, talking the lingo.

But I was just thinking that coming up here in about 45 minutes when it is 4-6 degrees cooler and I am freezing my butt there may be secondary phenomena to see.  Now this is just a total theory and sort of made up thing but during the total darkness Phil’s Camino may just have a light of it’s own.  Just  thinkin.  I will be observing carefully.

See that’s the kind of keen thinking that moves science forward even in times of murkiness.  Just when you think it’s all murked out up jumps a new way of looking at things.  OK, still don’t feel any different.

I’m staring out at the surroundings and there are green apples on that tree and red apples on that tree.  Half of that maple tree died over there, why is that?  And there is that caterpillar tent up too high to reach in that pear tree, hmm.

I just say an advisory on FB about not wearing your special eclipse viewing glasses while driving.  That sounds prudent.  OK, it’s 0946 and our peak is supposed to be 1020 but everything still feels about as normal as things get around here.  Just had a big old nasty sneeze, is that a sign?

They are saying this may be the last total eclipse in my lifetime.  Well,  they just don’t know Felipe.  This here cup of coffee may be my last cup of coffee in my lifetime.  He’s one nimble guy.  0952 and what?  This is reporting at its best, don’t you think?

Oh no, the internet is going wonkie.  OK, I am having a piece of Cynthia’s blackberry pie just to celebrate this historic moment.  It may be my last piece of pie, heck you never know.  1000 or 10 AM.  Maybe twenty more minutes to go.  This is so much fun.

My whole family is laughing and giggling behind me.  Here I am trying to do this very serious scientific reporting and they are trying to make some kind of a viewer out of a cereal box.  Geez, what rookies.  1005. Well, it might be a little darker but I can still see my pie.

Oh, good crust!  That’s one sign of a good  pie.   Well my body just totally eclipsed that piece of pie.  Yea, see how it works?  Just a little scientific demonstration for your benefit.  1010.

I wonder what Bigfoot thinks about all this?  Did anyone set up a real time interview with him?  Well, next time.  He probably remembers that one from 79.  1013.

OK, I am seeing the crescent shaped shadows.  1017.  OK, Tesia got the cereal box viewer going.  I was just fumbling with punching a hole through my pie plate.  OK, this is it! 1021.  Well, I don’t know about the glow emanating from Phil’s Camino.   Our equipment may not have been sensitive enough to pick it up.  1024.  OK, that was it sport’s fans.  1028.  The shadows still have the funny crescent shapes though.

OK, a good time was had by all.  See you tomorrow for another excited adventure.  1030 and love, Felipe.

You know that I have had Sister Joyce as my spiritual advisor for a long time now, maybe three years.  It has been enjoyable and profitable for me and for her hopefully.  Well, she is on her way out of town, going back to the Motherhouse in Dubuque, Iowa.

Wwhe I was there last year for the film festival I got a tour of the place and got lunch and got to give a little speech to the Sisters.  You know they all love Sister Joyce so they all loved me.   It was all very special.

She has retired after so many years in service to the Lord.  She worked for the Archdiocese here for forty years for one.  And since then she has been the Energizer Bunny going here and there doing good stuff including advising Felipe.

Now I picture her being a sort of Julian of Norwich there in Iowa on the banks of the Mississippi.  People will come to her.  My buddy Kathy from the area is already plugged in before SJ even gets there.  They should be good friends and Kathy will be a good addition and substitute for Felipe.  Well, you never know maybe I will get another chance to be in Dubuque and see her.

So, time to pick corn for the stand.  There is some heat out there this early afternoon and that will keep things ripening.  Have to go for now, see you tomorrow.  Felipe is thinking of you, praying for the stone pile and in love.

Monday 0900-1000

Tuesday 1600-1700

Thaursday 0900-1000

Sunday 1600-1700

Stop with your excuses, Felipe.x