Here is a group of photos from Early June of my trip to accompany Phil’s Camino at the San Francisco Documentary Festival.

We need another collection of pix since I am missing so much.  If you all could send some more into my email: [email protected]  .   So many got lost in the sauce.

Off for a walk and archery lesson.   Hoping you have a hopping day out there, love, Felipe.x

Yup, fresh back from San Francisco and guess what?  I am five pounds heavier than two weeks ago at my last treatment.  Why would that be?  Esther Hobbs, why would that be?

Yea, and fresh back to Wild Kingdom too as I missed hitting that deer by a nanosecond this AM on Vashon roads.   Good brakes on my little truck.  Another comment on our Wild Kingdom de Vashon is that the deer have been chewing on my little corn plants which is pretty close to unforgivable.  When does the season open?

Do you know the Phil’s Camino has a FaceBook page?  Check it out as there are pics from the California trip.  OK, I am going to eat lunch.  The best to you, love, Felipe.x

The flight back was so gorgeous!  We flew over Mt Shasta for starters.  Little ponds of glistening water below the glaciers.  Spectacular!  Then on up through Oregon to Mount Hood.  Then the Columbia River below.  Then Mount Adams, standing tall and snowy.   Then looked down into the crater of Mount St Helens, way cool.  The Cowlitz River Valley still full of the mud flow that came down when the mountain blew up in 1978.  Then Mount Rainer looking so majestic.  And then we dropped down into SeaTac airport.  Priceless really.

So beautiful and a good way to loosen up after my high flying weekend in San Fran.  So grateful to have spent time with Annie and Padre Tomas and his jolly buddies, the Paulist Fathers.  Then to spend time with Catalina and her husband and their daughter.  Erna my old friend from Buffalo and her husband Jerry showed up.  The sensational Esther Hobbs shows up for an evening to go with me to a fab going away party for David the Mountian Biker on his way to the Camino the next day.   All kinds of folks with all kinds of connections showed up.   Too much fun but ultimately exhausting, glad to be back home to the ranch.

Yea, hard to keep up with all these tremendous characters; doctors, lawyers and Indian chiefs.   TIME GET SOME SLEEP, love, Felipe.x

OK, one way or another I am getting this post written and out this AM.  I am here in the big city and working With the San Francisco Documentary Festival or Doc Fest.  We had a great showing on Saturday and a great Q and A afterward.

So, I am traveling with two remarkable people, Annie O’Neil and Father Tom Hall.  Yesterday morning Padre Tomas served two Masses at Old Mary’s Cathedral were we are staying at the rectory.  The Mass that we choose was one in Cantonese which was very lovely and exotic to our ears.  Afterward we hiked up hill to the Episcopalian Grace Cathedral to see that.  We walked the beautiful labyrinth outdoors there and I got the T -shirt, as they say.  This was my first labyrinth attempt and it went swimmingly with Annie and the Padre giving me pointers.  Then there was a very heavy duty organ concert which I tried to get into but it was just too heavy duty I guess.  I had to make a break for the outdoors.

So last night the Padre and I were up talking till past midnight.  Priceless stuff was exchanged and knotty problems talked about and pushed further down the road to resolution.  Again, how come I am so fortunate to get this kind of quality coaching?  Just knowing that I am so extremely lucky to be walking this road at this time.  Alperfect situation.

So, we are having breakfast here at the rectory.  One of the Padre’s priest friend invited us to his table.  That’s a few minutes off.  Then we are off on the BART, a subway to Berkley.  Catalina, our friend who was just up on Vashon visiting is throwing a brunch for us.  So, we get to see her and James’s new digs there.

Then tonight at 1900 there is a showing of the “Cool Old Guys” group of films.  Let me mention some of the characters in this group: a French beekeeper, a bail bondsman, a body builder who developed MS,  a boxing coach, a second hand store collector and man who is a star roller skater and runs a church/roller rink called Church Of the Eight Wheels.  Yea, see all pretty cool.

Well, I think that I brought you up to date with the happenings here.  Will be flying out tomorrow morn and be walking at 1600 at Phil’s Camino, seamless.  So will catch you here or catch you there.  Cool old love, Felipe.x

Annie, our beloved Producer/ Director of the short documentary Phil’s Camino just sent this in.  This is the very latest version of our poster.  Look at all those laurels!

Sort of lost in thought right now.  I’m amazed at people.  We meet each other as we travel down our individual paths, our individual direction.  Sometime we are together for a while, sometimes we meet on occasion and sometimes maybe only once.  But we observe each other and come away with a message.

I am noticing how some folks seem to move forward down the trail seemingly fearing everything that comes up or might possibly come up.   What a burden that must be.  Although perhaps it is not everything that they fear.   Maybe there are areas that they feel comfortable in, I don’t know.

And then there are other individuals that I marvel at that move through the environment with such ease, seemly fearing nothing.  They are aways ready for the next thing no matter what that might be.  I’m inspired by them.

Off to my Tuesday.  Paradise switch is on here on Vashon Island.  Find the fearless, love, Felipe.x

Somehow with the holiday today and all going on I lost track of the fact that there was a regular scheduled walk this AM at 0900.  At 0830 I saw Dana’s email, “walk?”.   And of course I answered it, “yes, of course”.   See how it works?  People think that I get people to walk but part of the time they get me going and motivated to get out there.

And out there is just beautiful right now.  Paradise switch on, there is not a cloud in the sky.   Exactly the right temperature, whatever it may be.  It’s Memorial Day today here in the States, time to reflect and honor our war dead.  I’m participating by helping to put up flags in town.  And some folks are coming out from the city to walk and have tapas in a little bit.  Just kind of a Norman Rockwell kind of day.

Nothing deep or weighty to talk about today.  Just want to be here and relax in between things.    I am going to catch a little mini nap before anyone shows up.  Miss you all, love, Felipe.x

Just taking a little break at the moment.  Catalina is here to be with us for the weekend from Berkley, CA.  We are working together to get down to the essence of Phil’s Camino – the trail, the experience, the substitute for the real thing.  She is a prof and art historian and her special interest is in labyrinths and shrines that people,and groups have built to serve as replicas of the real thing.  The idea is to try to have a similar experience to the real thing if a person can’t make the trip.

So, she came to the right place, right?  We got that stuff going on and it has been working for a while.  It is fun to see her come and check the scene out.  With her knowledge and experience she is looking it over.  It’s fun to help her out.

A Saturday in the Pyrenees means that I am having low energy due to the normal cycle of my chemotherapy.  So, I am resting and writing and working with Catalina.

We are going to a harp concert tonight.  I’ve never been to a harp concert, first time.  Catch you all tomorrow, Love, Felipe.x

Right at the hospital to get my pump Pancho taken off and then I will be on the road to the airport to pick up Catalina.  She will be with us a the ranch for a few days to check out Phil’s Camino close up.  This is something that I have really been looking forward to.  We both as it turns out grew up in Western New York so we will have plenty to talk about starting way back there.

Sun is finally coming out around here so am looking forward to some walks today and over the weekend.  We are supposed to be doing an interview but that could take many forms.  We will see what Catalina has in mind.

Starting to think about getting ready for the trip to San Francisco next weekend.  Will see some old friends, Annie, Padre Tomas and new friends that will be there for the film.

OK, back home at Raven Ranch.  Have Catalina safely here from the airport.  Just had a chicken dinner and fruit salad dessert.  Right now listening to Buffalo Springfield album that we haven’t played in twenty years.

The evenings entertainment is going to be watching some movies including of course Phil’s Camino.   On with it then, see you all tomorrow, love, Felipe.x