~~~~ TODAY PICTURES ARE AT YOUR OWN RESPONSIBILY…

POSTED AT THE END DUE TO SHOCKING CONTENT~~~~

Dear Caminoheads,

Don’t you feel in another reality when you read Ryck’s posts (our Bureau Chief from the Puget Sound, now moved to Washington DC)? I do. And I love the title of the post from yesterday… it is all about perspective, binoculars as The Boss once said, cosmic-rightsizing as I often use too… (If you haven’t read it, please go). And also, please appreciate the picture… and how this picture got to him… definitely, the world and humans are amazing…

Also, please get ready for a series of CORN BLOGPOSTS… I have been getting some messages from my messenger-swallows that there is a competition at the moment for “THE BEST CORN” with Mr. Pilgrim Farmer John in the midlands of Iowa, and Mr. Gral. Phil Volker in the West of the Pacific Coast. The swallows have eaten both, and they are still to decide… it seems there will be white smoke signals broadcasting worldwide if a decision is made, otherwise, both will be declared Gold Medals, as the Jumpers from Italy and Qatar in the Olympics.

But today, before I ramble too much, the post is about Ancestry. We have a collaborator who did research and provided some unthought, unexpected, unknown, undisclosed, not divulged, secret ingredient, as yet undiscovered, unattributed, ancestry from General Phil Volker. We know about some legacy he got, we know that his mother was from Poland, and his father a medic in the army, so I believe, having been so opened about all of this we either have to think that Phil himself didn’t know about this, or he decided to keep it secret for us all not to feel under the pressure of the British Tabloids… he is like our Prince Harry!!!!!!!!

Check yourself… and share your astonishment with the rest of us… the resemblance is just uncanny… and the background as well… (Research and pictures provided by Richard Rogers)

Uncanny loves,

Cris

Dear Caminoheads,

To give a contrast to the posts in the past few days, I thought I could share what happened today… after hours, still is hard to believe. I am doing some paperwork needed for some qualifications at work, and one of the requirements is that my university degree has the “Hague Apostille”. Before the document can have the apostille, there is another prior step that requires a stamp and signature. This signature is given to certify that the previous signatures in the diploma are true and match the public registries, and it is given in the ministry of interior affairs.  I got that signature on a crappy rainy morning of July 2000 when I got my degree.

So today, all confident, after waiting for my appointment taken some days ago, following all the protocol, etc. I take my degree to have the “Hague Apostille” and I see the officer looking at a screen, going to talk to one person, to another person, to another and coming back to the screen, and then says the NO-magic four words: “There is a problem”. And I was like… “what can of problem can be after 21 years?!!!” And the officer continues to explain that the signature of the person who certified that all the other signatures were true and matched the public registry, doesn’t match the public registry. Yes, The One who has to role to check daily that the signatures of others match the signatures registered, did a “short signature” or gave the document to his 5 years old to sign, or to his secretary. The signature in my diploma and the registry aren’t even similar, none, zero similarity…

I don’t know whether to cry or congratulate this man for the audacity… you have to be very bold to do something like that knowing that at some point it might come back… but in this case, this person left the office 6 years after stamping and signing my diploma…

Oh well… Maybe, saying “alperfect” makes the trick for a speedy resolution?! I hope so!!!

Alperfect loves,

Cris

Dear Caminoheads,

Yesterday post, and specially the last paragraph speaking about COVID vaccination brought up lost of comments and while as pilgrims, we appreciate difference, and work daily towards being open-minded and tolerant, and all those good attributes, when it comes to taking care of the others and ourselves, we do not have grey areas: SAFETY IS FIRST.

Steve-O put it in a comment very eloquently, (talking about the Oasis or for what matters, coming to visit Phil or anyone, really):

“In this case, it could be a life and death issue for even vaccinated people who can still contract the Delta variant. People who are elderly or compromised by sickness, including the original Caminohead, are extremely vulnerable. To infect them is to risk their lives, and anybody can be a carrier.”

Phil was very clear himself when he spoke about the Oasis: he and Rebecca drew a line on this matter and asked for vaccinated people only at the Oasis, and it is the responsibility of each of us to make it happen. There is enough going on already in the world and in the ranch to add one more worry. The Oasis is a celebration.

Some of you may know that I have another job in addition to being the Caminoheads South American Bureau Chief. Not that I am complaining about the salaries that The Boss pays, but while I live in a third world country, I still need to have a second job to make my ends meet. My day job is in the area of clinical research, which is the area in medicine dedicated to the development of new treatments. Many of my work colleagues, the most knowledgeable of them, had to stop doing the research they were doing to dedicate their time to study, learn, observe, think and work on COVID research. And many of us had to pick up their projects so they could continue and add it to our full schedule, so as to free their time for them to be dedicated to the virus research. The vaccines are the result of the thousands and thousands and thousands of neurons working for thousands and thousands and thousands of hours. I have never been busier in my whole life. This is nothing to praise, this is what we do for a living and we are lucky enough to be in a position of privilege to contribute to the management of the pandemic.

You can contribute too.  Getting the vaccine at this point is the best way to contribute. If you have questions or doubts and have not had the chance to discuss them with anyone, feel free to email me at [email protected] and I will do my best to provide you with reliable information. (I even attended a class this past Thursday to learn more about the delta variant and reply with more knowledge to one of you who emailed me specifically asking “how do I know it is safe?”)

As said, there are no grey areas here: The attendance to the “face to face” Oasis will be for COVID FULL VACCINATED people.

Scientific Loves,

Cris

Dear Caminoheads,

August has started! Isn’t that crazy? The OASIS is coming soon and lots is being prepared. If you would see the “behind the scenes”, you wouldn’t believe what human beings can be capable of…

As for the plans, we mentioned already that there are a number of great ideas: there will be walking Phil’s Camino, CORN, hanging out at the ranch, maybe weeding the corn (ha!), activities on the island proposed by the locals, campfires with a glass of wine and storytelling, and as previously advertised,  this year there will SIESTAS in the schedule!!!

The plans for having online Oasis Activities continues in the schedule, and we will let you know as we get closer.

There has been lots of RSVP already done, which is very much appreciated. If you are planning to come and have not yet let us know, please please please do! It is of tremendous help to know who is coming and how and when, as we are already connecting pilgrims for lifts and transportation, but also organizing meals and other stuff that is “per Caminohead”.

Remember: You don’t need to have gone to the Camino, speak Spanish or even walk to come to the Oasis. You just need to be a pilgrim, a pilgrim in the make, have the wish to be a pilgrim, have the thought that some day you might consider being a pilgrim, have the thought that you would have loved to be a pilgrim, be a neighbor/friend/son/partner/cousin/aunt/uncle, etc of a pilgrim, be a Caminohead, be a islander, or be yourself to come. So, please come! (and RSVP!!!)

Bottom line: RSVP to [email protected]

Add in your email when you are planning to arrive and to leave, how many of you are coming (families are more than welcome!!), where you are staying (or planning to stay), if you will have a car and can offer a lift or if you need a lift; also let us know if you are coming online and if you need any help. All of this can be fine-tuned later as your plans get more solid, but share with us what you know right now. 

Oh? Have I mentioned that Phil has for us Oasis 2021 bandanas ready?!!!!!!! All is waiting for you (and us)! Please come! (and RSVP!!!)

Oasis Loves,

Cris on behalf of Phil/Felipe/The boss/The General and His Rebecca

Recommendation from Dr. Cris: Vaccination is important to save the others’s lives (in addition to ours). If you come to the Oasis, you are coming to be with Phil, Rebecca and other pilgrims, and by being vaccinated, you are taking care of all of them! Thank You!!!!  (Note, this thought is my own responsibility)

We are the Camino!  There is nothing more important for us to understand!

Recently a Camino character, Samantha Wilson, wrote something that shook my world although I had been living it since 2014.  And we here at Caminoheads have been living it also unknowingly.   I have been thinking all along that the center of Camino spirit is back at the Camino itself.  But she wrote that the center of Camino spirit is in the Pilgrims themselves who reside all over the world.  And we at Caminoheads are a hotbed!  Do you see that?  I celebrate!!!!  Let us see this!!!!

Felipe.x

Posted by Cris on behalf of Felipé (a.k.a Phil, The Boss, Colonel A., The General -to quote a few-)

Dear Caminoheads,

It seems that the recent promotion to General that The Boss got, has intimidated more than one. Or maybe, as a Colonel, he had already imparted this sentiment of fellowship, respect and obedience within his followers… to the point, that when I inquired the respectful professor Mary McKinley -who you may know was the lucky one to meet Phil and Kelly in the Camino in Spain- about what happened the night that these three pilgrims (Phil, Kelly and Mary) along the rest of their Camino family were told that they were “louder than the Italians”, this is what she replied:

       “What happens in Terradillos de los Templarios stays in Terradillos de los Templarios!”

Upon further interrogations, all I got from that night was that:

“On the very long and hot walk there, Kelly kept saying, ‘It’s only another 3 km!’ but he said it every 30 minutes or so until we knew he was lying.”

       “The Italian reference is because they all tended to be bikers, not walkers, so they were more ready to party and stay up very late than we who had trudged every step. So it was a special night when we realized that they wished they were having as much fun as we were.”

I guess, it will remain a mystery to the rest of us what Phil, Kelly, Mary, and the rest of their Camino family were experiencing (to put it mildly!) that night… but if there is anything any of us can asseverate is that we are now jealous that we weren’t there!!!!!!!!!!

Loud LOUD LOUD Loves,

Cris

MY PROMOTIONS

There has been some talk about my recent promotion to General and I wanted to give you some details on that and some explanation going back to my promotion to Colonel years ago.  My recent upgrade to General was something totally my own idea.  If not now when?  Right?  But the upgrade to Colonel was by comparison hard fought and I wanted to describe it for you.

Back ten years ago at least My Rebecca and I were on the road north of Seattle and we stopped at a roadside fruit stand.  There wasn’t anyone there as it was honor system.  They had lots of fresh picked fruit although I can’t remember what.  We were there picking out this and that and a car rolls up and a young man on crutches comes over.  After a few minutes I witness him fall flat on the gravel.   I rush over to help.  And he starts yelling at me, “You asshole, you asshole!”   And I responded, “That’s Colonel Asshole to you!”   I back up getting between him and Rebecca.  The only thing we were ever able to figure out was that he was freshly out on his own after his injury and he wanted to function as normal.  Little did I know.  Anyway I left him with my card but I never heard from him but the promotion lived on.

So, I was happy with Colonel Asshole for quite a few years but now with all the added responsibility of my current situation a promotion is in order.  So, I have to explain that this is all in my head and requires no uniforms, paraphernalia or secret handshakes.  This does not change anything in our friendship for each other.  I just wanted to explain.

Thanks for your time.

Felipé.

Posted by Cris on behalf of Felipé.

You know it was Phil who turned  Ronaldo into a Caminohead.  Phil is blessed with the capacity to help others dream big.  But before we met Phil,  we saw the movie THE WAY and as we walked out of the movie, Ron said, I’m going to do that, I am going to make that pilgrimage”.  He looked at me and I stated bluntly, ’This is your calling, not mine!”  After four years of nightly reading posts of pilgrim experiences Ron retired. He had already collected his gear and in one month, on September 1st 2016 he arrived in SJPP.  He had said repeatedly, “I don’t know why people do this more than once, Why would someone do that?”

When he returned home, he confessed “For the first few days, I couldn’t believe anyone had walked that far.”  But about a week in, he found a rhythm, and his Camino family was beginning to gel.  Many of the family were women, younger than Ron and not concerned about walking a lot of miles per day!

In 2017 we traveled to Seattle to meet up with members of his Camino Family to celebrate  Ron’s “Camino daughter’s” birthday.  A bonus for me was the opportunity to see Priscilla, who lived on Vashon Island and was a special friend from the years we lived in Haiti.  Priscilla asked if we knew about Phil, and how Phil had built a Camino on his farm, and she offered to arrange a walk with Phil. The day we met Phil and Rebecca, Priscilla, Ron, and I walked with Phil that first round, on the second round, Priscilla and I sat out while the guys walked.

We met back at the house for tapas and stories and Phil said with a sparkle in his eye, “Ron, you’re a Caminohead!”  Now I’m not sure what Phil meant by that, but I knew Ron would walk more Caminos. Easter 2018, we walked Porto to Santiago arriving on Holy Saturday and attending Easter morning mass.

That trip solidified our dream of moving to Astorga.  In May 2019 we began living our Spanish dream. I think Caminoheads dream big. I think they have big hearts for fellow pilgrims, for fellowship, and friendship.

Thank you Phil and Rebecca for creating a space to bring pilgrims together.

May the Grace of God sustain you and each pilgrim.

Dream big loves,

Ann Angert

In the era of smartphones, smartwatches, smart all, Felipé Walking Schedule has been upgraded to “smart” too (just because he wants to keep updated!)

Monday 09:00-10:00
Tuesday 16:00 – 17:00
Thursday 09:00-10:00
Sunday 16:00 – 17:00

As Phil said, he is walking 1 lap instead of the usual 3; and you may well be able to bump into other Caminoheads to walk along.

Come and walk!

Cris on behalf of Felipé (a.k.a Phil, The Boss, The General)

Recommendation from Dr. Cris: Vaccination is important to save the others’s lives (in addition to ours). If you come to walk with Phil, by being vaccinated, you are taking care of him! Thank You!!!!  (Note, this thought is my own responsibility)