Dear Caminoheads,

A few days ago, I found this post written by The Boss (aka Phil/Felipe/The General), and was waiting for January fourth to re-post it. It is brilliant. And as I was reading it, I was thinking of Rebecca… and the scene in the movie describing Phil in the supermarket buying the second most expensive bottle of olive oil… (I love Rebecca in general, but I love her more in that scene!!!)

No more words from me today! Read Phil’s post! And read Ron’s comment from yesterday.

Foodie loves,

Cris

 

January fourth today. It started out pretty slow but it is picking up speed. I was pretty convinced that I would not be able to come up with a topic today on my own. So, I thought a Camino thought and I went with it. Knowing that everyone that you meet brings you a message I said that I will blog on the next person that I meet. Sounds like a plan.

So, my good buddy Stephen calls to say that he is over in Tacoma picking up some gear and he is going to swing by on his way home. There you go, Stephen it is. Stephen is a guy trained to be a chef and loves stuff outdoors. He is fun to take on hunting trips because he knows his way around a Dutch oven and a campfire. He also cooks big meals for events for our island sportmen’s club for hundreds of eager eaters. I learned a lot about cooking helping him with those events. Being around people that know what they are doing is an education.

So along comes Stephen today and he is bearing gifts. He knows that I have been passionate about cooking after being in Spain so he has cooking gifts. He brings some very nice olive oil and balsamic vinegar for me to play with. What a guy.

Back when I first got back home I expressed to Stephen why I came back with this passion for cooking. I said that I had a new appreciation for my friends and I wanted to show that. I wanted to show what we had felt on the trail. We were all passionate about each other and we were all passionate about our food, our calories, our fuel. And he looked at me and said, “Why do you think that I have been doing this for thirty five years?” OK, there it is.

Soupy love to you, Felipe.

 

Written by Phil on 04Jan2015; reposted by Cris

Dear all,

03Jan… a return to work… I don’t know if this is because of the new year or what, but my mind today felt as if there has been a massive change, I don’t know why all looked different at work, even when the only difference between “this transition from 2021 to 2022 weekend” has been only the fact that I did not work on Friday… I am not complaining, I am just surprised at this feeling.

I sent today a message to my team members with a new year resolution: I proposed that we should be “more awesome” than the year before; and said that being “more awesome” means: “do a very nice job while having fun”. I am still surprised at the replies I got, lots of thank you messages for recognizing that “fun” is “part of the deal” in our team, something we will strive for as much as we will strive for doing a good job. These replies came from team members in North Macedonia, Hungary, Portugal, Israel, France, Poland… Some of them, I have never talked to or seen over a screen -let alone in person-, I don’t know how old they are, or anything else other than what I can imagine by reading the emails they sent and how they deal with the work, what they do when issues come up, whether they are responsive or not, and things like that. But all of them today appreciated the idea of having fun as we work…

And you know what? I think the email with only three lines that I sent this morning to them, will probably be the most important email I would ever send to them in 2022… because somehow “set the tone” for the year I want to have, but as the Pep Guardiola (the football player and former coach of the Barcelona Football Club) once said: “everyone of us can try to be the best, but without the others, it is impossible.

 

So, here we are, striving to be “more awesome” together.

 

Setting the tone loves,

Cris

 

Dear Caminoheads,

Today, I am re-posting what Phil wrote on the 2nd of January 2017; I was wondering what he had shared with us the day after the new year and I found this post… I never asked Phil about the whiteboard, but it wasn’t needed, here he wrote about it. I am sad though, that I never told Phil that paperwork also gets far down in the priority pole for in my world too… He wasn’t alone in that struggle!!!

Happy New Year Loves,

Cris

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Good Luck Dinner (Written by Phil on 02Jan2017; re-posted by Cris)

Actually it is the Good Luck Southern Dinner that My Rebecca made yesterday as she always does on New Years Day. The centerpiece is a pork roast which is surrounded by side dishes of sauerkraut, black eyed peas and corn bread. We had four guests to share this with and there was a report of good luck coming in from one of those. So yes, I think that we are starting off on a good foot here at Raven Ranch.

What else do we have for you? I decided that it was time to wade into my office and start cleaning house. It is currently close to gridlock. It is amazing how far down the priority totem pole paperwork can get in my world. I am sure that this is not that uncommon. Please tell me that.

I also started a map on a whiteboard at the rock pile on Phil’s Camino to illustrate where we “are” in Spain on our second walk that we are on now. Then maybe in addition it would be good to have a regular report here on the blog about this, coming out say every Sunday. OK, let’s try that mañana.

Also, there has been a report of Our Annie having talked with Ken Burns about the Phil’s Camino documentary. Yes, this is THE Ken Burns together with THE Our Annie O’Neil. This was totally unplanned by them. Remarkable things continue to occur when St James is afoot. Let’s all of us keep alert to possibilities that seem to come out of nowhere.

Well, I could continue to write away here or go and start on my office clean up. Thinking that it would be good to have some heavy equipment to push the piles around or perhaps some pyrotechnics to loosen things up. It is sort of like an archeological dig and I need to take more care perhaps. Or perhaps I should quit talking about it and just start. Yup.

Here we go clearing the deck to take on 2016! See you tomorrow, love, Felipe.

Dear Caminoheads,

Welcome all to 2022! I hope that each and all of you had a lively, lovely, healthy and safe celebration. I had an invitee to have dinner, sleep over and have lunch today; it was N., my secretary when I used to practice that became a friend. We had a very nice evening, started around 9:30 PM and went to bed by 4 AM. I did lots of cooking, and all worked out pretty decently and both of us were very happy that the last minute invite and planning worked out so well.

 

Now… what is next? Have you thought about it? Do you follow the tradition of eating the 12 grapes at midnight while asking for wishes? We did it yesterday, but 12 wishes sounded pretty demanding… so I cut it down to three, which I repeated 4 times to get to the 12: “Gift economy”. Had 2020 and 2021 taught me anything, it is that the things we need are the essential ones: health, love, shelter, patience. They are critical for our day to day life, but also with them “at hand”, we can work towards our wishes -if our wishes are truthful and realistic-.

 

We, pilgrims, know a bit about the process of “working towards our wishes”, don’t we? I don’t think I would have been able to walk through “O Cebreiro” had that not been true!

 

Buen 2022 Camino!!!

One stamp a day loves,

Cris

 

 

As another year slips away………

Time to reflect before the New Year, 2022, comes upon us………….

So much, on so many levels, has unfolded in the past 12 months.

Many reasons to Smile. Many reasons to Cry.

An Amazing amount to be Grateful for.

 

None the least of these is our Privilege of having experienced a Strong connection to Our Dear Friend, Phil Volker.

We have witnessed new Life and also watched Life pass on to the next dimension.

There were many sides to this Wonderful Man.

I would like to reflect on one of these attributes and that was Phil’s determination, no matter what, to NEVER QUIT.

I complete this blog by sharing a poem ( knowing Phil like poems ) from Robert W Service 1874–1958.

 

The Quitter.

When you’re lost in the Wild, and you’re scared as a child,

And Death looks you bang in the eye,

And you’re sore as a boil, it’s according to Hoyle

To cock your revolver and . . . die.

But the Code of a Man says: “Fight all you can,”

And self-dissolution is barred.

In hunger and woe, oh, it’s easy to blow . . .

It’s the hell-served-for-breakfast that’s hard.

“You’re sick of the game!” Well, now, that’s a shame.

You’re young and you’re brave and you’re bright.

“You’ve had a raw deal!” I know — but don’t squeal,

Buck up, do your damnedest, and fight.

It’s the plugging away that will win you the day,

So don’t be a piker, old pard!

Just draw on your grit; it’s so easy to quit:

It’s the keeping-your-chin-up that’s hard.

It’s easy to cry that you’re beaten — and die;

It’s easy to crawfish and crawl;

But to fight and to fight when hope’s out of sight —

Why, that’s the best game of them all!

And though you come out of each gruelling bout,

All broken and beaten and scarred,

Just have one more try — it’s dead easy to die,

It’s the keeping-on-living that’s hard.

Dear Caminoheads,

I don’t know yourselves, but I am still moved with the post Wiley wrote, describing how it was that sacred time for Phil (and Wiley). Rebecca said that this piece of Wiley and the eulogy that Tessia wrote and read are going to be part of the blog book… I don’t think Phil ever thought something like that would happen… that both of his children would end being part of his book, in this way… but this is just a guessing… we all know that Phil had a very witty mind and maybe he was already dreaming and designing this gift.

 

What I am truly deeply sure is that Phil has already celebrated this news -this gift- at a super large tapas table, surrounded by his new and old fellow pilgrims friends louder than the Italians (reloaded!!!) and with several bottles of spring water over the table that he turned into “vino de la casa” with his look over his glasses…  A re-make of the Cana Wedding… this time with Phil’s first miracle (first “on the other side”… ).

 

Don’t quite before the miracle Loves,

Cris

 

 

 

The Last Lap 

A cool breeze runs through the General’s tent between hail storms. It brings a patch of sunlight, dappled by the great cherry tree overhead, like a vast umbrella. Resident Raven‘s wings above that. Heaven just above that. 

I sit with Phil, my hand on his shoulder while Will calmly reads a lullaby from the Bible. We are playing a game of telepathic charades. Pulling blankets off, then on again, trying to bring tidbits of relief where we can. It’s tough. Communication is at a minimum. Consciousness is hardly here, spanning many distant planes at once. A moan, a groan. Sometimes a word, repeated if urgent. 

Currently, the word is leg as he reaches down to his left one and is obviously trying to change something. I gather that he wants a stretch and help him bend it toward his chest, gently swaying back and forth. “Leg. Oh, leg. Ah. Leg, leg…” It’s not enough. Just trying to get some blood moving, I continue. Bending, rocking. “Other leg” he says, wincing. Will sets the good book down and uncovers his right leg. 

“More. More. Ugh. Mas, mas” Felipe at the helm. “Move” he groans. Will and I catch eyes in a joint effort. We sense that he wants them moved closer to the edge of the bed and slowly, we oblige. As his right leg nears the edge, I chuckle and try to explain that we can’t move him any more without his leg falling off the bed. “Yeah” he says “fall off”. Ok. 

I’m worried that what he wants is to get out of bed, but this doesn’t seem to be the case. As his knee bends over the edge and Will lifts and lowers his foot, he breathes a sigh of relief. I’m bending, he’s bending, but it’s still not quite right. He’s still groaning, knees creaking. We lift both legs so that they are in front of him and bending in sync, as if he’s pumping on a swing. Getting warmer. 

Finally, in an Aha moment, I delay the rhythm by half a beat and we-as a team- fall into stride, literally. That unmistakable motion that most of us do every day… the one that saved his life. His face relaxes, maybe even tries to smile. With the tent flap open, breeze still gently rustling through the Hawthorne beyond the decaying garden, it’s a perfect vision of autumn in the northwest, a beautiful day for a walk. 

Will and I lock teary eyes now. We can feel his muscles and tendons flexing beneath our grasp. Yes, we are helping him, but he’s walking and he knows it. One foot in front of the other- one in the spirit world, one in ours. Content to stroll, we carry on. To Burgos or Leon, I suppose, or maybe to the next albergue or bird feeder. Not sure, just happy to be on our way there. On the road to awe. This was a defining moment. One of those ones where time melts away, ceases to exist. Only love. Simple, boundless. Will and I loved him and we knew he loved us back. 

It wasn’t a full lap. Perhaps only to the corn and back. But it was his last lap. And I was glad to be with him. I write this now on his 74th birthday and trust that he’s walking still, walking with God. Walking will never be a meaningless activity to me, I’m sure many of you feel the same way. Keep on walking. 

 

Wiley Volker 

 

Erratum: Written by Rebecca and Wiley Volker, sent by Rebecca and posted by Cris

 

 

Dear Caminoheads,

I got an email today from William, our trusty Canadian Bureau Chief… if you do not know William by now, let me tell you, he was born being an explorer, and adventurer, a pilgrim, a boy-scout, a nature lover and one of the people with more attention to the detail I know… Of course I do not know William since he was born, but I don’t think I am mistaken with this description… We will ask him to write about his story one of these days… his move from Scotland to the west of Canada when I think he was in his late teenager years, is pretty amazing… and his life story includes also not only having met our Phil, but also Prince Philip…

 

William’s email intended to call my attention to the fact that his place -Calgary- had the same temperatures as my place -Buenos Aires-, only that his place have it in negative numbers, and mine in positive numbers… which translated to temperature readings, his place is “below zero” and mine is “above zero”…

 

My contribution to this observation William made, is that we humans, seem to be ok living in environments within a range of temperatures at least 72 Celsius as today, once we adapt our lives to it;  however, our internal organic being cannot cope once the temperature increases more than 3 Celsius… And then, we think we are the strongest being in the planet… but when compared to flowers, plants, trees, insects, animals… they are the real thrivers, the strong ones, they are the ones who can be under zero for months and bloom in the spring… I cannot help thinking in which sort of extremes we humans live in… but the delivery of a newborn sounds like an example… on one extreme, there is pain and effort, and on the other side, there is joy and wonderment and awe at the arrival of a newborn…

 

I wonder where is that we have to be able to expand our range, our comfort zone…

Food for thought loves,

Cris

 

My 2D Christmas tree 

Dear Caminoheads,

 

I hope everyone has had a nice Christmas Eve and Christmas celebration, and most importantly, a healthy one. Down here, things are getting pretty serious with the pandemic even in the middle of summertime with temperatures over 80F in the evening… I don’t know about you, but here, the Christmas’s spirit was totally absent, everyone has been trying to decide what to do, meet others or stay at home, get tested or assume a positive, if we stay at home then what do we eat, others decided to gather and let it be what needs to be. But whatever the circumstances, the Christmas’s spirit has left its place to uncertainty and fear.

 

I did not make plans, in fact, this year I had not even done groceries shopping. I have been off work since Monday 20th Dec, first with a sick leave that continued with the Christmas break, not counting that it was my birthday in between the two on the 23rd. Today was my first day back at work and I am now more than ready to sleep. I am on the mend, but today after lunch, I wondered how I would get to the end of the day without a nap…!!!!!! We get used to good life pretty quick, don’t we?????!!!!

 

Anyway, I just wanted to say hello and that I am slowly getting back to normal -which is a joke these days-. I will report more tomorrow.

 

Much love,

Cris

 

 

Dear Caminoheads,

 

Thank you to all of you who expressed your sympathy, compassion and PATIENCE (lots of it!!!) towards the “status” my life has these days. But, enough of whining (as Phil would have said!) and let me share with you a few other pieces of Thiago de Mello, this Amazonian poet I wrote about a few days ago.  While I was looking for a translation of the prose I posted last week, I found another of his pieces, one that was translated, as it was consider his masterpiece. It is called “The Statutes of Man”.

 

This was written during his exile in Chile, in response to the dictatorship in Brazil. But as I was reading them, and then ruminating them these days since I found the English translation, I kept thinking how much these “statutes” become the implicit rules we live by during the Camino, even when probably before, during or after, we never knew about them… These Thiago de Mello wrote are 15. Here are the first 5…

 

Article 1
It is decreed that now the truth counts,
that now life counts,
and hand in hand,
we will all work for a life that’s true.

Article 2
It is decreed that every day of the week,
including the greyest Tuesdays,
has the right to become Sunday mornings.

Article 3
It is decreed, from this moment on,
there will be sunflowers in every window,
that all sunflowers will have the right
to open in the shade;
and that windows should be open, all day long,
to the green where hope grows.

Article 4
It is decreed that man
will never again
doubt his fellowman.
That man will trust in man
like the palm tree trusts the wind,
like the wind trusts the air,
like the air trusts the open blue sky.
Man will trust his fellowman
like a child trusts another child.

Article 5
It is decreed that men
are free from the yoke of lies.
Never more to use
the breastplate of silence
nor armament of words.
Man will sit at the table
with a clean look
because truth will be served
before dessert.

 

Truth will be served before dessert Loves,

Cris

 

PS: Could you picture in your mind that sort of love,.. “Truth will be served before dessert loves”…? I just did and now I have butterflies in my stomach!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!