We got the thumbs up from Delelah Pearl so we’re golden! We’ve passed the test. Always here ready to refresh a weary traveler.
Went to Mass with Catherine this AM. And we have a walk and tapas later this PM. In the meantime I am getting a little hammock time in. Windy today so there is constant motion. Nice. Just a lazy Sunday. I have time to think of you, love, Felipe.
I am still floating from the Breckenridge trip, FB friends. I am sipping a cup of Phil’s Pilgrim Brew coffee, so masterfully designed by Gwen at Yellow Arrow Coffee. It is delicious, butI feel the twinge of missing the gentle hustle and bustle that preceded our Camino de Breckenridge heart emoticon I learned a lot about loneliness while I walked the Camino, and it helps me every single day. As I think about last weekend in Breckenridge it would be easy to feel sad, to miss the people, all so beautiful, kind and generous; to miss the place, so magnificent in every way from the quality of the air to the majesty of the mountains; to miss the quiet along the path we walked by the river, up the hill, through the town itself. But what is the point of having fun, of having wonderful moments that touch the heart if later they only bring you sadness and longing. No, we must hold these dear memories close and let the joy of the moment bleed into the now moment. We have all lost loved ones and we must have the discipline of allowing the laughter we had with them travel the distance of time to bring a smile to our faces now. This requires love, it requires courage. The love to fully remember those moments without turning away, and the courage to live out the truth that Spirit never dies. As my friend Jesse was facing death many years ago he told me to think of it as he was just going to a different area code. I know this is easier said than done, but it is a discipline that we can get better at with practice. So I practice with thinking about Breckenridge. All the joy, the laughter, the walking together, the eating together, the moments we shared: I allow them to color this morning as I sit with no hustle and bustle, but sipping my Phil’s Pilgrim Brew, thinking of them, and thinking of you, FB friends. We are more together than it may seem to the eye. The heart knows, and we can allow it to seep into the present and go forth with each other fully by our side smile emoticon Let’s make the most of this day, FB friends, together in spirit! Buen Camino!
Quess where I am? In the green hammock under the two pine trees writing a post on WeeFee that reaches out here from the house. How alperfect is that? We got the high tech totally dovetailed with the low tech here at the ranch today.
Yea so, what else is happening? Tomorrow is Flag Day here in the States and we will be putting those up. Today I am trying get some work done on the corn. Just don’t want to be out in the sun too long. Also need to catch up on the blog comments. Some great stuff coming in there.
Maybe we will adjourn here today and we will get back together tomorrow. You’re the best, Felipe.
So, local Caminoheads have discovered hammocks. It’s really a big splash, so much so that a short instructional video was needed. You may view that at your leisure.
On the porch at Jennifer’s lovely home is a spot that I thought begged for a hammock. I was thinking of her and the recovery time that she needed after each of her heavy duty chemo treatments and this would be the perfect spot to do that. Well, I don’t know if I exactly had the original idea on this one but close, you know how all Caminoheads are joined at the head. Kind of one big thing.
So, Jennifer bought three hammocks, each different, online and anxiously awaited their arrival. And they are here now and we have two of them up. One on her porch and one at our place between two pine trees in the backyard. That is where the little video was taken by Catherine of me. Safety first, right? You don’t want to get hurt hammocking or really to be caught looking ungraceful with some of the trickier moves.
But before I go today just need to discribe the spot on Jennifer’s porch that could become the center of her universe, at least for the rest of the warm weather this year. She has this long narrow porch that faces west and with a view of the Olympic Mountains in the distance and the water inbetween. You enter the porch from one end and walk past a small table and chairs and some more chairs all looking like get spots for tapas and sunset viewing. Then there are a couple of doors off to the left to get inside. then at the very end is a small area beyond the last door that that is exactly the right size for the hammock she chose.
So, the long narrow porch is super linear with the boards of the deck, the boards of the ceiling and the siding boards running along with you as you walk down. And this is broken up by flower pots on top of the railing and the new hammock which is artfully installed at a diagonal across the far end. It is off white canvas material that shows up great against the redish browns of all the wood.
When you are in the hammock you are in the shade with a view of greenery, water, mountians, sky. Flower scent wafts through but maybe best of all there is a hummingbird feeder just feet away from your head and the fearless amazing little creatures come and go for your entertainment. There fast wingbeat gives them the sound of giant bumble bees.
Well, I can’t think of a better spot in the universe to work on healing. A pillow and light cover, a book maybe, maybe not and she’s set up. So heal on Jennifer, we love you!
Felipe MTC (Master Tapa Chef).
Hi! Glad that you could make it. The other night I heard Kyle Seager of the Seattle Mariners baseball team talking about a game that the team had just won. And I learned a new word, “cupcake”. He said that the win was not a cupcake, saying that it wasn’t that easy. It didn’t come easy maybe as it looked or what the scoreboard looked like.
The Cancer Camino that I have been walking for almost four years is no cupcake but that is not to say that it doesn’t have miracles happen and precious high points happen. And these stand out maybe more brilliantly because they appear on the contrasting dark background. So, to begin my story I have been joined on my Cancer Camino by another. And this has been very special and a big breakthrough for me.
Along comes Jennifer. And I asked her if I could blog about her and this in a general manner and that is what I am up to. And along comes Jennifer. She lives on the Island, has the same doc and we figured how we could get our hospital visit in sync. So now we commute together. And just as being joined by someone, a complete stranger, on the dusty or muddy trail in Spain after maybe too much time alone, you marvel, how much fun is this? Where have you been?
So we have similar problems and similar challenges, daily and long term. But I have been walking for what seems like forever she has started recenty relatively. So this is good for both of us. With my oldness I can help her with the freak out that chemotherapy tries to drown you in at the beginning, a very strange foreign world. She in turn with her newness helps me remember things that I have tried to block out and to maybe look at my own sticky wickets in a new way. See? Mira?
So, yesterday a miracle occured or maybe we just heard of it as it happened earlier. But I have to back up a few notches to fill you in. On Tuesday Jennifer went in for a scan to look into her insides. This is a valuable tool that our oncologist uses to check what going on. Sort of as close to boots on the ground that he gets to. So she gets one every two months and this marks a place, once the scan is looked at and intrepreted where strategy and/or dosage is likely to change. The doc can tweak things depending on what he sees on the report on Wednesday and talks it over with you.
From the Cancer Camper’s ( patients’s) point of view this is a totally nerve wracking, sleep losing, nail biting process. Life or death seems to hang in balance in the mind. This is the second scan that she has had and the second time through the wringer. But in spite of all the mental gymnastics that she went through this one turned out to be very very good. And combined with excellent numbers from her blood work it looks very positive for her. So we are loosing no time toasting to her health and the miracle revealed.
So, we walk on through the ins and outs and over and unders of the Cancer Camino, never a dull moment. Cupcake loves, Felipe.
“Hi Phil,
Made it to Santiago today. An amazing experience! Your poles went every step of the way- thanks. Going to Finisterre on Friday. Blessings to you brother. Art”
Two more pilgrimages go done in history. That sounds so final and actually is not accurate. Their pilgrimage has just started as the Camino starts in Santiago as has been said. I can’t wait to talk to Art back here in Seattle.
Those are my walking sticks in the pic. The second time across Spain! That is so cool. It will be nice to touch them again.
Off to the hospital with my chemo buddy Jennifer. She bought a hammock so she can recover from her treatment fatigue on her lovely porch now that it is summer. We are going to take a half hour and get it rigged up before we blast off this morning.
Cloudy right now but I am predicting that it will clear soon. Praying for rain, seriously. Thinking about my little corns. Standing in front of the cathedral loves, Felipe.
Just a little drama here at Phil’s Camino. Can Felipe keep the deer out of the corn long enough so that it can be big enough where it won’t be tender enough for them any more? 😳😳😳😳 How can Felipe have his corn and sunflowers, to remind walkers of Spain, if it’s all chewed down to the dang ground. 😁😁😁😁! But it’s been four nights now that there is no damage due to deployment of Felipe the Scarecrow, Felipe thinks. 😃😃😃😃. Check out the pic. Felipe’s Rebecca thinks this is dang silly. ☺️☺️☺️☺️.
I was out in the early morning cool wandering through the environs still high from yesterday’s walk. And there they were, the old little miracles, just hanging around waiting to be discovered. So, I captured a few for you. Thanks, Felipe.
This weekend there is a huge fundraising event for Phil’s Camino Documentary in Breckenridge. Yea, check out the poster. Numerous events all around town. There’s the theater, the Speakeasy Movie Theater. There’s the cafe right next door, Yellow Arrow (sound familiar) Coffee. There’s a venue, the Breck Grand Vacations Community Center. A church, St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church. All kinds of Caminohead stuff going on.
I have been in contact with a lady named Gwen who is the owner of Yellow Arrow Coffee. She has Phil’s Pilrim Brew Coffee on sale there. And also, check this out, my favorite Camino breakfast sardines and chocolate on the menu. Bless her heart.
So, this is all happening right now as I write. Annie has just called twice with groups of folks that wanted to talk with me. They just got done with the Pilgrim’s Mass at the church.
Hot day in Seattle. We are such weenies here, it gets over 80 degrees and we start whining. But my corn and sunflowers are practically jumping out of the ground. Bless you Annie and Breckenridge. What the most we can make out of this day, love you, Felipe.
Had an email and this pic come in from my friend Jody that she made it to the end of the trail in Spain. She was recently walking here and has been walking the Camino with her husband Ken. So great to have them have the experience!
Sorry that I don’t get my blog in yesterday. We are having some really beautiful warm days here and I have been trying to get as much water as possible to my corn. Have been busy with that and that’s my excuse.
Well, maybe I have another excuse. We here in the Northwest have a special relationship with summer. Finally when summer does arrive after endless months of rain we just don’t know what to do. We are like kids in Candyland. I’m getting hung up on every flower, patch of light or the one thing that is the most beautiful in my view at this particular moment. Here’s a pic (the rose), love, Felipe.