Sunday we finally got Sister Joyce, my spiritual advisor,  to come and see Phil’s Camino.  Jennifer was here to help me host her.  Basically we enjoyed each other talking away.   Then I thought that we should show Sister Joyce the trail and she said that she couldn’t walk that far.  So, Jennifer got this great idea to have her ride the mower around for a half mile, which she did.  Check out these pix.  She is such a good sport!

Let me mention the new walking schedule here.  Please come and walk with me, with us.  Monday 0900-1000

Tuesday 1600-1700

Thursday 0900-1000

Sunday 1600-1700

Well, I’m pretty beat after all the Memorial Day activities that went on today.  Just having a little tomato beer and watching some baseball.  OK, catch you tomorrow, love, Felipe.

Sorry about no post yesterday, that very seldom happens.  Just a little too much happening.  But off to a steady start this morning.

Off to Mass, walking a few laps, off to the cemetery to help put up 500 flags on vet’s graves.  I need to get those  accomplished to get to my afternoon with Sister Joyce.   She is finally going to come over to see the Camino.

Know that I am thinking of you and praying that your day will be fruitful.  Always remember that you are loved.  The road goes on but we know how to do that.   Take care, Felipe.

It’s tapa time here at Raven Ranch with our neighbors fresh back.  They are bubbling over with stories of the Camino.  A little miracle here and a little miracle there.  Rain going sideways here and walking in the fog there.  No room in the albergue here and gosh I was sick there.  Swimming in the ocean, meeting people, remeeting people, all good to the end.  Felipe.

And what more perfect place to re-enter than Raven Ranch with Phil and Rebecca and a glass of wine and tapas.  The blessings continue. Buen Camino in my heart always. Dana

We were blessed to have met you Phil, to have been mentored by you (take care of your feet) hosted by you and Rebecca before, and now after… it is so good to be home and yet some part of us is still rising and dressing, lacing boots and shouldering packs and walking, and walking, and walking, and so it shall be for the rest of our lives as it always was – we just didn’t know it.   Catherine.

OK, we did it, tapas can be tough.  Love, Felipe.

Our Camino buddies Catherine and Dana will be here later today.  We are walking in the morning from 9 to 10, if you want to join us.  Then tapas at 5 PM.  So I will blog from tapas later with the gals fresh back from Spain.

Jennifer came over for tapas last evening.  It is  fun to sit outside on the deck on these evenings.  Hard to imagine winter and the rain and the dark of a few months ago.  You have to live in the Northwest to really get that.

Anyway, the important thing is that she brought this little baggie with some sprigs of a new mint that  I  have never seen or tasted before.  As a new cook I thought it was nice.  Just a little gift from the herb garden.   Just another form of beauty to enjoy.  I have been concentrating on visual beauty lately with all the wonderful blooms of spring and Jennifer comes in with this little baggie of something different.  I like it, thanks Jennifer.

All right, be back later.  Maybe we will pass the iPad around like we did a at tapas in Spain.  Just trying to capture the moment.  Make it happen, love, Felipe.

There are some happy campers back in the neighborhood looking to get debriefed.  Yes, the famous Catherine y Dana are back and the wine is chilled for their visit.  I just invited them to come this afternoon to walk and talk and the have tapas.  So, if that happens I would like to post a blog directly from that gathering.   Later, love, Felipe.

When I first saw blogging in action it was in that lovely movie about Julie trying to do all the recipes in Julia Child’s Famous French Cookbook.  Julie would bust her butt all day and then try a do one of the insanely complicated recipes each evening.  Then the short daily blog to tell us able the success or disaster.   Things don’t always work out.

Well, I was so mortified last evening when I realized that I missed an important meeting.  I was so happy here at the ranch working on a little project totally unimportant to the world until I realized that I had totally blown it.  For the last year I have been trying to cut back on my voluntary commitments realizing that I can’t operate at the same level as in the past.  This was the classic example of getting more on my plate than I could eat; too many irons in the fire.

Anyway this is shading my thinking this AM.  I’m trying to keep it simple and not take on too much.  Of course, my basic problem is that I want to do everything.  I guess that’s what heaven is for.  “Mustang Sally” playing right now.  Love you guys, keep it to a dull roar, Felipe.

Chris, who says he is no photographer, sure takes a lot of pictures.  And he took some a while back that I have never gotten on the blog and which might give you more of an idea what goes on here.  And it is a way of bringing up the new walking schedule which will start on Monday.

That’s the day that Chris took…   Wait a minute.  Isn’t this the guy that was just interviewed by the BBC about his photos from the Vietnam War.   Oh, and then there was a little mention in Time Magazine.   Well, that guy, and here he is documenting our little old Backyard Camino.   Thanks Chris, Esther and I never looked better.

These shots were taken on a Wednesday afternoon which has turned into the most popular walking time of the four times.  Now with the new schedule it has moved to Tuesday afternoon.  And then I have changed the Sunday walk from morning to afternoon.

Here is the new schedule that we are going to try:

Monday – 0900-1000

Tuesday -1600-1700

Thurs 0900-1000

Sunday – 1600-1700.

Good and now we need one of Annie’s little kid definations of love:

Love is what makes you smile

When you are tired.

Terri

age 4

OK, going to water the corn seed that I replanted.  Keeping it more wet this time.  Here we go, love, Felipe.

Somehow while trying to get a message from Our Catherine I became enmeshed in a deal called IQElite.  This is Catherine with the Catherine y Dana posts from Spain.  Anyway, I got to answering questions on taking a personality test.  And I came up in a category that really has got me thinking the whole day.  I came up to be an inspirer.  That’s pretty darn cool really since that is what I find myself trying to do these days.

I mean when was the last time that the thing I was trying to do was matched up with what I was actually good at.   I know it is a dorky little test but still, maybe something to it.  And I find it immensely rewarding working with folks that have gotten the cancer bug, to inspire them.   How can I lighten their load?  How can I help them be more positive with their situation?  How can I help myself while helping them?

Also I had two youngsters here for archery lessons.  One seven and one nine years old.  This is another great outlet for me to work with folks.  I guess I inspire there also.  Hmm.  Maybe there is some validity to my categorization.

Well, Catherine and Dana should be winging their way back to Seattle here shortly.  Jody and Ken and Art are walking now although I haven’t heard from any of them.   Been really short on comments here on the blog lately also.  Must be a sunny day everywhere and everyone is out walking Caminos or playing golf, which is OK too.  Hey take care for now, love you, Felipe.

We just had tapas and dinner outside on the deck and I am enjoying the evening here with the twilight and the noise of various songbirds.   Of course wine is a factor.   The air is full of sweetness as all the plants are celebrating.  I find myself lately asking myself in any giving situation what is the most beautiful thing around and let me stare at it as long as possible to soak it in completely. It could be the color of the wine.  It could be a particular row of trees.  It could be the pretty lady.  Right now as I sit here I spy a patch of blue iris flowers that are particularly attractive.  Ah, Chris took a pic of them on Friday and I could get that for you.

And the air is cooling down and I feel it on my cheek.  I just finished off the wine, a rose from Portugal.  A friend of My Rebecca’s and mine, her name is Deb, sent a little essay, more like a sketch of important facets of her life.  Like a short quick auto biography.  It was interesting and got us thinking that we should try the same thing.  A lot of it was gratitude and of course some regrets.

Actually My Rebecca lost sleep over it last night thinking what kind of thing she would write for herself.   I’m hung up on one thing and that is that I have never drawn an angel.  On my bucket list of art projects is one that has to do with angels and just realizing that I have not even a start on it is a little disconcerting.  Hmm.  Well, maybe it is healthy to have things to look forward to in the future, even impossible things.  I remember our ninety year old neighbor who loved gardening buying a brand new rototiller.  Big plans for the future are good.

Thinking of you there where you are.  Wondering what the most beautiful thing in your view is?   Don’t forget to soak some in, love, Felipe.

We had a walk and tapas yesterday afternoon, off the usual schedule.  What a lovely gathering.  It kind of went on for a time with folks coming and going.  I was late as I was wrestling with repairing a stairway for another of the attendees.  Three folks, the heart of the party rolled in after a trip to Seattle.  Two of them drove the third to treatment at Swedish Hospital.   They just wanted to support her.  Then another one of our walkers actually showed up on time and walked and took pics of  the Camino, got tired of waiting and took off and never caught up with any of us who we’re all late.

I guess I am trying to describe a can of worms.  But there is a point here somewhere in this wriggly mess, just a matter of finding it.  I think that the point is that it is alperfect after all, right?  It didn’t turn out like planned but we were all busy helping each other and all those projects took a little longer than expected.  So what’s wrong with that really?  Next time we will get it together.   Life is messy, outside plan but alperfect, Felipe.