Early morning here at the Weston Hotel.  Getting light and I am up looking forward to a big day.  Thought that I would talk to you before things get going.  This whole trip is focused around a luncheon showing of Phil’s Camino at the maker of one of my chemo drugs.  They have a program where they bring in ways to show their employees the finally products of their work.  In other words we are on hand at this affair today to be proof positive of the good they are doing.

Yesterday we were talking about the meeting with the group of doctors in Seattle.  And today another medical connection for me to work on.  This is new and different from the audiences that we have gotten in the past whose questions centered around religious and Camino themes.  Still getting used to the flavor of the questions asked from this area.

I was going to give a little view into the doctor’s meeting that we had a few nights ago.  I did my best to answer questions that were sparked by the film.  One was tell us more about the difference between healing and curing.  Then questions about the walk itself in Spain and on Vashon.  But mostly it was about attitude and motivation, mine and their patients in general.  The big problem seems to be the state that patients get in after their diagnosis of lostness and paralysis.  How to get patients to start to think about function seems to be the first step before working on functioning itself.  And Dr Zucker my rehab doc covered that mostly.

I gave them a little song and dance about Hildegard and medieval medicine and the book God’s Hotel which none of them had read.  I related the story of the power outage in Seattle and the Treatment Center running on 10% electrical power when things went medieval for an afternoon.   The lights were low, the chemo pumps ran but without all their noises and alarms and buzzes.  The computers were down so the nurses actually spent the majority of their time with the patients.   It was a temporary shift that gave us all a different view, a view that favored quality for the patient and not the efficiency of the hospital.

When one is a patient and maybe a patient for an extended period things at the hospital start to be seen “through the patient’s eyes”.   It is hard to do that for others, doctors included.  This is where I have heard that cancer doctors that get cancer actually learn a lot about the whole process.  A different view appears.

Anyway, I guess I could say that it was a real get together in the finest sense.  Everyone walks away inspired with things that are new to think about and with inspiration to get things accomplished.  So, yea, maybe today will be similar.   I have to go and search for breakfast and coffee.  My Rebecca said maybe we should get room service to bring it up but that seems too weird to me.  Will be back to join you tomorrow.  Alperfect, love, Felipe.

I have a few minutes.  I haven’t packed yet and we are catching the 1015 ferry for the airport so I will dilly dally with you to the max for as long as I can.  We have a whirlwind trip to San Francisco unfolding and you will hear all about it in the next few days.

In the meantime we had our showing of Phil’s Camino last night for fourteen young doctors mostly in the cancer rehab field.   My rehab doc, callsign Danger Zone, and I gave them the royal song and dance.  They loved the film and came up with the most penetrating questions.  Those kind of situations always lead to the feeling that there is not enough time, that we could go on all night.

And I learned lots last night and realized one overarching thing.  I have to jump back in time to start this.  At one point I had a vision that I had three lifelines that I was relying on to get me through my cancer situation.  And part of my vision was that I was braiding them together to make a strong cord.  But the three were, one all my doctors, nurses, family members and friends; two my spiritual connection through church and my bible class and three the Camino.  Sister Joyce quickly filled me in that this corresponds to the three pillars of Christian life, community, faith and service.  Ahh, said Felipe.

Then it has been one year since we started speaking to audiences about Phil’s Camino.  A friend just had a post on FB this morning about being off to the South By South West Film Festival in Austin.  That is the memoriable place where we had our premiere one year ago.   So since then we have talked with numerous audiences and they are sorting out in four catagories for me now after all this time.  We started out being with general audiences at all the festivals which was fine and haphazardly there would be individuals that were memoriable.  And since then we have been with targeted audiences.  One that we did often were church/ religious audiences that were very present and asked great questions.  Two were Camino groups of American and Canadian pilgrims that were very enthusiastic and right there.  All great.

But now since last night with the inclusion of the doctors group I have a new category.  They were so there with the film and the questions and the banter.  So let’s review, there is the general which I am going to put aside as the control group. And then there are doctors, church and Camino groups.  Seeing anything there?  These three connections line up perfectly with my community, faith and Camino lifelines.  I just put this together for myself this AM.  I am getting vital help and energy from those three lifelines and they are getting it back from me.  Yea, a moment of clarity.

So, that is pretty important to me to see my way a little more clearly and I will be more effective in the future.  It’s time for me to pack my saddlebags and get ready to go.  Its a long road but it is bearable if we have each other and we can make it easy on ourselves.  Thanks, love you, Felipe.

PS – and hence the title of this post.  Phil’s Camino was supposed to be made is my conclusion.  So may disjointed and quirky and unrelated factors cast together that there had to be some form of higher power involved.  Maybe a whole lot of St James.

I need a challenge to occupy me in these dismal days of late winter otherwise I am going to feel sorry for myself and whine and whine.  But today is the start of Phil’s Camino the magical mystery tour to start in a new direction.  We are moving over to start to cozy up to the medical world.

I have been in and out of the hospital for a long time now and have caused sufficient trouble there with my Cancer Commando activities.  Well that still goes on but the change involves actually becoming guests into the world of doctors and chemists.  I am off tonight with my rehab doc Danger Zone to show the film and give a talk to a group of young doctors going into the cancer rehab field.  They are hungry to learn, we are hungry to learn.  It should be a great sharing event.

Then tomorrow the magical mystery tour is off to San Francisco to show the film and talk with the folks at a major drug company.  I have been the beneficiary of one of their products and we are off to do our song and dance for them to show our appreciation.   We get wined and dined and we show them what we got, which is a lot.  We got blood, sweat and tears, we got walking in the mud, we got doing it the hard way.  On top of the film itself we for a year now have been honing our QandA act since the premiere in Austin last March.  We’re going to knock them over.

So that’s the inside scoop from Felipe.  You can’t get this stuff anywhere else.   So listen, considering I have all that important stuff to do I might have to bug out early on this post.  I have to put a wrap on things locally before this all gets going.

But just to acknowledge you my faithful readers, we all know that I am indebted to you for all your thoughts, prayers and daydreams.  Most of what we run on can’t be quantified, can’t even be put into words most times.   Thanks for all the support, alperfect once again loves, Felipe.

My Rebecca came home  from her church service and held up the bulletin for me to see.  The cover had a image of Jesus laughing.  It was very simple, a drawing perhaps of the head and shoulders.  And why did it seem so unusual, so out of the ordinary?   I have been seeing depictions of Our Lord all my life but is this the first one that has him laughing?  It’s a good laugh too, a belly laugh with head back.  Thanks Rebecca, I needed that.

I think that it was Padre Tomas that sent me a video once about the colors that once covered the inside of the cathedrals in Europe.  Vivid colors in interesting intricate patterns covering the columns and other features.  What happened to all that?  Lack of interest?  No one kept them up?  Sort of a sad mystery.

Our local Father David who is a jolly type is new to us here on Vashon.  Not new new but his first year anyway.  He had a homily not too long ago that included the statement that our only real obligation was to be joyful.  I can remember Catherine and I looking at each other and saying something like, “You heard the man!”

What is all this saying?  Well, just what has happened to our vivid colors?  What has happened to the Jesus laughter?  Who stole our joy?  Right?  Are we all sombered out on this planet?  I want to go somewhere else maybe.

All just a thought here for Felipe on this rainy morn with a mid thirties temp and gray skies.   Seems like late winter is in my marrow.   I got to find my joy, geez, it’s around here somewhere.

Yea, anyway, “you heard the man” loves!, Felipe.

” The Young, tall, handsome and serious pilgrim from US.”

“The Albergue Guacelmo has a ritual: every day at 5:30 pm they offer the afternoon tea with Earl Grey tea and digestive cookies.

“The tea break was a treat, not just because of the Earl Grey and the cookies, but because the hospitaleros were stars. They had found a book in the albergue with the stories of pilgrimages in the previous centuries, with details of the hardship the pilgrims had to endure without “Compeed”, high tech hiking shoes, goretex jackets, and dry-fit t-shirts.

“Once the story-telling finished, we started a small talk with the pilgrims around and this young, tall, handsome and serious pilgrim caught my accent and asked where I was from: “Buenos Aires, Argentina”, I said; he asked me then the question many had done before: “Do you know Pope Francis?”, and to his surprise, I said yes. We moved into the conversation about how was that I had met the Pope, and we ended talking about why we were in the Camino and as if we were in the confessionary he said he was walking for discernment about going into priesthood. He said he was mostly walking by himself, so he could pray and offer his pilgrimage for wisdom, he asked me to be discret about that. His eyes were sad, he said it was more difficult than he had expected. I couldn’t really say much.

“That night my Camino family and I decided to do some cooking. By mass time, I saw the Young pilgrim and I asked him to join our homemade dinner, he smiled from ear to ear. We listened to the vespers with Gregorian chanting and the mass, heated the meal and as he did not arrive, we sit to eat.

“We did the dishes, most went to sleep, and I stayed in the kitchen. The hospitalera came in pajamas and sat to chat with me while waiting. The Young pilgrim came around 10 PM, it was easy to tell he had been crying. He apologized for being late and missing the dinner; I told him to sit down as I would heat the meal for him, he cried again. The hospitalera brought a chocolate for dessert; a “feast” he said, he continued: “today is my younger brother’s birthday, he messaged me saying he missed me at his birthday party”. His eyes were teary again. I just felt how much he was battling while walking. Before going to sleep I gave him my phone, it had no chip, I just had some texts I wanted to read while walking, one was “When the walking becomes the prayer” from Andy, a priest. He refused at first but took it.

“We met some other days, but we really did not talk much. The last night, before arriving to Santiago, I asked him if I could join him in the walking so as not to go alone as my “family” was not willing to change their routine, I promised him I would walk behind him so as not to interfere with his walking and praying. He said ok. The following day, we set out together. We started quiet but the conversation went deeper and deeper as it poured rain. By Monte de Gozo, he took the rosary from his pocket and asked me if I would pray with him; I nodded. We finished the pilgrimage that way, at times we couldn’t tell if what was rolling in our cheeks were tears or rain drops. That changed both of us.

“Fast forward 14 months, he came to Buenos Aires as part of his missionary work in Bolivia.
In the 2 weeks he stayed in my hometown, he became an active member of the parish where I first heard about the Camino when I was 16, he met my family and neighbors, and we shared many meals and many conversations. He left saying he felt I was the sister he did not have.

“Lots have happened since, I am so proud of him and so grateful for his trust that afternoon over tea, in the albergue. I hope to visit him soon. If possible for you, please pray for him. ”

Cris

If everything goes well, as in God willing, we will be finishing the second crossing of Spain on Phil’s Camino next Sunday.  Catherine and Dana must be here for that.  So it is hinging on that at the moment.  If not we will put it off a few days.  But it is happening soon.

I just got back from showing the film at the local Unitarian Fellowship service.  That was a good group of around fifty.  They loved it and had a lot of good questions.  Each group is so different and combines with the film to form its own special chemistry. It is unique.

Thursday I am off to talk with a group of cancer rehab doctors and that will be another sort of conversation.   In the next two weeks I am five separate meetings with groups.  This is good practice for me.  This blog really helps also to organize my thoughts and to have them pretty close to my tongue.

And as soon as Cris from Argentina sends me some more material we will continue her story about her Camino walk.  She is very good at getting to the important relational stuff that happens there.  Thanks much Cris.

Sherie my old Caminohead buddy from San Diego will be here shortly for the afternoon. Then I have an archery lesson to give and a walk after that.  And somewhere tapas after that hopefully.  You know how much Felipe likes his tapas.

Miss you, love you, Felipe.

We are so close to being in Santiago on Phil’s Camino.  Looking in the logbook presently and it shows twelve more laps to go.

Monday 0900-1000

Tuesday 1530-1630

Thursday 0900-1000

Sunday 1530-1630

A couple of notes: we will not be walking Thursday March 9th.  And after daylight savings time change we will be walking at 1600 instead of 1530.  So next Sunday the time will be 1600-1700 (yah!)

I just did some figuring and If we keep up our present pace we will be at the Cathedral in Santiago at the end of the walk on Sunday March 12th.  I think this will work as long as Catherine y Dana are here, back from Hawaii.  If not we will postpone.  I will post that info on this blog as soon as I find out from them.

Felipe.x

I changed my mind.  I was going to wait till next Friday to give you Cris’s next installment of her Camino revelations but I think it is better to give you the next one which I have on hand.  Yesterday’s post was an introduction really to a group of three.  So here we go with number one:

The Irish Pilgrim

“This was a beautiful albergue. We were assigned to a big room, with bunk beds but with quite a nice space between one and the other. We were asked that the youngers of us would take the top bunk bed to leave the others for those with more troubles to get up there. With only 39, I thought I fitted the “younger of us” category and took the top bed.
As most of the other pilgrims, I started my unpacking routine: sleeping bag, towel, clean clothes for after the shower, plus the t-shirt for the following walking day (yes, I had an “afternoons T-shirt” ), soap for the after–shower-laundry. And I noticed that the pilgrim in the lower bed was quiet, though sitting in the bed. I decided to go quieter, despite I was not being noisy.

“I saw his walking shoes on the side, and from my view I could only see his feet… his blisters were horrible.

“I took a step back, looked at him and said “that must be painful”, he nodded; and he said he would have liked to see a doctor but it was Sunday and was told there was nobody in the pueblo. I offered him I could have a look. He said nothing.

“I went for my shower, went to the patio to do my laundry and as I was finishing, I saw him. I looked for a shade, on the right of the albergue entry, next to the big table, I set up 2 chairs, I went upstairs to pick up my kit and wave him, kind of inviting him to come. He approached like with shyness, as if he would be bothering me for doing so.

“We started to talk, as I was taking care of his blisters. He was Irish, in his early 60ies, his wife had died, his children were in Australia, he told me he lived in a beautiful landscape, surrounded by nature and his town was a beautiful place too. I finished, he did not say much but he said he was with less pain.

“As I was sitting there, another lady came to ask me about her knee but she was German and we couldn’t understand too well. We had the afternoon tea, and I lost track of the Irish pilgrim until the vespers and the mass. When I went to bed, there he was, asleep already.

“The following morning, while Tom, the hospitalero was making breakfast for us, the Irish pilgrim me and with tears in his eyes said to me that he was surrounded by nature and his town was a beautiful place but he was lonely, and that at times he felt he was invisible, forgotten, but when I “saw” him the day before, he felt “seen”, and when with my offer to take care of his blisters he felt “cared” and “attended” when I set up the chairs, and he just went silence because he couldn´t find the words to tell me how important I had been for him.

“I couldn’t find words for him either. I just said Thank You and I held his hands and I could feel my eyes were teary too.

“I did not see him again that day or the days after. I hope he followed my advice of resting a day, Tom, the hospitalero was going to offer him to stay one more day. Tom had told me the previous night that the very little we can offer for others can be all they need. He was right.”

Cris

Hi gang.  I am going to introduce you to Cris a Caminohead from Argentina that has volunteered some nice material for our benefit.  We start today and I will post some more next Friday.  Enjoy!  Felipe.
“If there is something every person who walks the Camino could tell is that their lives have changed because of the Camino. Mine certainly did, and while now, back home, I can identify how I got gifts day after day, I also got a day where my whole experience came to fruition.

“It was in Rabanal del Camino, in the Albergue Guacelmo, the albergue from the Confraternity of Saint James, from the English Community.

“In the hours I spent in that albergue I learned in all possible ways how is it to be there for others. It is not that I did not know it since before, I did, but one thing is to know it and a very different one is to live it, feel it, and see how is it for the others, the ones whose lives change when you are there for them.

“I have three stories from that day: the Irish Pilgrim, the young pilgrim from Washington DC (now, my little brother), and the hospitaleros.

“BLESSED ARE YOU PILGRIM, WHEN YOU DON’T HAVE WORDS TO GIVE THANKS FOR EVERYTHING THAT SURPRISES YOU AT EVERY TWIST AND TURN OF THE WAY.”

That’s it from Cris, see you tomorrow.  Felipe.x

This is the third anniversary of Annie O’Neil’s first visit to Phil’s Camino the trail.  It was a life changing day for me, my family, for all of us.  It was a life changing day for Annie.  There was a bolt of Camino energy that day that we are still living off of.   And as Sancho said, “Everything is Possible on March 2nd!”  Well he did say the everything is possible part, I had to help him with the rest.

I have been working on my Spanish language in my own Felipe way these daze.  At the new shop I generally have the local Mexican AM station on the funky radio.  It is fun to try and decode the talk.   I am not quite that far to get meaning but am working on picking out individual words.   And sometimes I need help.  Yesterday there was a Spanish speaking couple getting chemo in the next comfy chair over and I started a conversation with them by asking what the Spanish word “también” meant.  They were more than happy to help me out.  Now I know that it means  “also”.  And I got “punto” hammered out, which means “point”.

I came back from Spain with a big idea to learn Spanish but that project has been going glacially slow as you can see.  But what the hey?  Maybe I will get some new help from Cris from Buenos Aires.  Who by the way will be up on this blog tomorrow with her first post.  Maybe I can get a pic off FB to put with it.

Thanks for all the comments lately.  I’m sorry if I sometimes have short answers to long comments but I try.   And también if I have more private type info to pass along I can pick your email address off of the comment and contact you that way.  That’s  the “punto” .  My spell correction mechanism is going crazy here.

OK, off to walk and look for lion tracks.  Nice being with you.  Everything is possible loves, Felipe.