Come by when you can.

Monday 0900-1000
Tuesday 1600-1700
Thursday 0900-1000
Sunday 1600-1700

Felipé.

Do you remember that my big book of the year last year was Radical Remission by Dr Kelly Turner. Well, I was cruising FB this morning and it seems that Dr Turner is in Cannes, France at the festival with her new film. This is about all I know for the moment but that much is earthshaking.

Let me give you a Felipé book report on her book that I have been so excited about. I don’t have a copy here at the moment because I lent it out, you know how that goes. But just reading the table of contents of this book will give you goose bumps, yes that good. Here is the basic lowdown. Dr Turner is a Integrative Oncologist and she has uncovered something very interesting and it is related to what we have been talking about here at the blog for five years now.

Her starting idea was if you are going to win the war on cancer you have to talk with the winners. So, in ten years she interviewed one thousand cancer patients that had received the diagnosis of “spontaneous remission” from their doctors. Meaning that one day the cancer in their bodies just disappeared. It happens. She change spontaneous remission to radical remission because she grew to understand that it was a longer more deep process that we are dealing with here.

In sorting out all the stories of all these people she found nine commonalities. Not that everyone had all or that one seemed more important than another but that they were common threads with this group. One would expect something like that but what was unexpected was what a majority of those similarities were. What made these people tick?

What she found surprised her and surprised me although we have been bouncing around in this territory for five years so I was totally familiar with the ideas. But to see them in print and together was awesome and affirming. It is a glimpse into something that maybe we have over the centuries forgotten. We have become soo mesmerized by the mechanical aspects of Modern Medicine that it is refreshing to see “the rest of the story”.

So, only two of the nine were about physical things. But seven were about connectivity both spiritually and community wise. One was about taking control of your treatment which is connectivity also. I wish I could do a better job on this but you will have to read it for yourself or see the film when it comes around.

But beyond all that really is the thought that those nine commonalities were good ways to have a healthy life to start with, outside of cancer. We tend to take all this for granted, life that is, till we personally hit a brick wall like cancer though, our usual way to operate. Well, yea.

Have to go. Jim is coming to help with the corn weeding so I have to join in the fun. Alperfect really loves, Felipé.

Veranda, I love the way that rolls off the tongue! It seems to have been around for a while, like old money. It has accumulated a bit of history for better or worse. People have come and enjoyed her and now they are gone. But we are here to start afresh. She seems feminine like a big messy lap. Big enough to hold a group. Maybe there are those wicker chairs that the air can blow through to lend to our comfort. The Veranda has a comfortable hold on us, bringing us together when we have been off on separate adventures and quests. Some of us have been injured, some have won awards, some have created, some destroyed. But the Veranda holds us so that we can reunite and its time provides us with the opportunity to see how we have grown while apart. We are together now and out of the glare that is often taken for reality. The din and the glare, they go together. But that seems far away for all of us now. We loosen our ties and let our hair down, we plan to stay for a while. Air is moving to keep things fresh and to rid us of the unwanted. Maybe it means the weather is up for a change. The Veranda will shelter us in a shower and we are beyond worry. Who has a story for the good of the order? Maybe something about pirates or pyrites or parakeets. We have fun even when we aren’t having fun if that is possible. A few of our group goes off in search of refreshments. The icebox can’t be far. Something light please, vino verde or iced blond coffee perhaps. I have dozed off but the light touch of a napkin on my hand has awakened me. Ah, my wine has arrived. Gracias.

Enjoyed the time with you, love, Felipé.

Veranda Blend is a coffee by Starbucks that is offered here at the hospital. I just totally love the way that sounds so I thought that I would keep it going here. What more do I have for you in Waiting Room News? There is a guys sitting with his back toward me and he has a team jacket on and across the back is the team name, the “Attitudes”. That’s pretty cool.

Yesterday we had more off Island guests come to walk Phil’s Camino, a busy week. No Marines this time but admirable folks nonetheless, nurses and chaplains. What a lovely crew to have visit. Unfortunately they had to swoop off and catch a ferry without tapas. Without tapas is a tragedy, kinda like life without Veranda Blend.

I know it is Wednesday and I have nothing much new in the way of news about our get together in August. The dates are August 23 through the 26th. Pilgrim Farmer John will be here to trill and amaze you. God willing we will be eating super fresh sweet corn. If you have specific questions put them in the Comments and we will answer them.

I have to get ready for my appointment so I am going to sign off for now. Hooping and hopping and hoping you are having a great day! Come back loves, Felipé.

“Taking into consideration the possible meaning of these words, and the fact that Spanish is my first language and I can totally be missing the point!!!!! but, I like to think that one can understand the Camino de Santiago (as an example, you can replace it with other pilgrimage) as:
1) A long (with “long” being subjective) distance covered by foot (or bike, or donkey, you name it) to the Tomb of Santiago, done with a spirit concerned with religion.
2) A long (with “long” being subjective) distance covered by foot (or bike, or donkey, you name it) to the City of Santiago de Compostela, with an ending point established in the Cathedral, done conscientiously.
3) As Andrew Bennet said, to cover the 18 inches that separates our head to our heart done conscientiously. Those 18 inches for some of us are the longest journey we could ever possible made, it is certainly a journey to a sacred place, and there is no way to done it other than conscientiously. My pilgrim friend Fr. Ben said very wisely that those 18 inches are like journeying through the forest of our soul, and John O’Donohue wrote that “your soul alone knows the geography of your destiny, your soul alone has the map of your future…”

So, as I understand this matter, you can be a pilgrim without leaving your backyard or your bed or your home; and you can go to any point of the Camino de Santiago route, follow the arrows, and do just a “hike”… but you know, Spanish is my first language!!! and I can totally be missing the point here!!! 😀

Dictionary-approved Pilgrims Love,
Cris”

That’s Cris from Bueno Aires. This all has to do with a blogpost a couple of days ago where I was defining a few words out of the big fat paper dictionary (American English flavor). Words that were related to pilgrimage and walking. Anyway, I stirred the pot and Cris (CSABC) got involved. There is some great stuff in her material.

Thank you Cris! I know that she does a lot of her writing while she rides the bus through Buenos Aires. It is fun to try and picture that.

I am still recovering from the Marine invasion Sunday. Those guys are real pieces of work. That is a great compliment by the way. We will see Pilgrim Farmer John again in August at the Caminoheads Get Together.

Time to go. Miss you loves, Felipé.

Wow, what a visit! Pilgrim Farmer John and his gang rode in to Phil’s Camino around high noon yesterday. We may never be the same around these parts.

Two trucks pulled up in the yard, one a Suburban with John’s guys and another a pickup with a nice sweet couple Richard and Julie. Julie is local and cousin of one of the guys, Ken. But the guys piling out of the Suburban are Marine and Navy vets, various flavors of officers, mostly flyers. They have experience leaving kisses and destruction in their paths. I think that is fairly accurate. Anyway they left us kissed and exhausted. They still have it. Let’s see if I can recall them all: Kent the Elder, Doctor Tom, Ken aka Bruiser, Dapper Dan, Garnett the Swabbie and of course Pilgrim Farmer John our Caminoheads Heartland Bureau Chief.

Having arrived earlier than expected thus interrupting my last minute cleanup attempts I put them to work in pairs to get things ready. That worked out well and we managed to talk and laugh away a couple of hours before the 1600 hours walk. Sometime in there Father John walked over to give the blessing to the corn who were all standing proudly at attention for him. I was happy.

As John was the only one of the crowd that had seen the Phil’s Camino documentary we piled everyone into the living room and played the DVD for them. They were duly impressed. I hadn’t seen it in at least six months so I was reminded how good it is.

The walk went well of course without any falls or animal bites. It all looked great to me after months of cleanup from the winter snows. Of course I’m the only one who saw that. Oh, I need to mention that Jane, one of our pretty regular walkers showed up to help out the home team. Thank you Jane.

So, the guys brought a huge pile of food and bottles and a giant frosted cake for the sagging tapas table. We all did a mighty fine job on that and I doubt that supper was needed by anyone after that. Thanks guys! So they are all flying out today to various points on the map: Iowa, Vermont, South Carolina, Oklahoma.

Walking in a minute, later loves, Felipé.

There is some pretty fine stuff coming and going on the Comments right now but I have to keep toward getting ready for our walk today otherwise I would answer them. But duty calls or duty comes calling, something like that. Our tremendous buddy, friend, amigo and Caminoheads Heartland Bureau Chief John Conway and his friends are riding in here to Raven Ranch about 1400.

John has never been here before although we have been bantering for years and I have been to Iowa to his farm there in conjunction with one of our film showings. So, this is a real honor for me to have him here along with his buddies. They are in the Seattle area touring our various flight museums and a walk on Phil’s Camino seems to fit well with that. Then there is the blessing of our corn 🌽 by John who knows more about corn than we will ever know. But my plant guys are all up an inch or two and standing at attention for the occasion.

I am going to make my famous and tasty corn relish for tapas. Got out two bags of frozen Golden Jubilee sweet corn from the freezer and it is all warmed up and ready. You will see the recipe that I use which is out of a New Mexico cook book. (I never put the corn syrup in mine). What good is a blog without an occasional poem and recipe?

So, I am off to scurry around and get things ready for our guests today. It’s all terribly corny love, Felipé.

I heard so many nice sayings this morning that would have be great springboards for a blog post but I forgot almost all of that. Oh well, I only need one to write one post anyway. I saw a son of a friend of mine and I asked how his parents were doing and he replied, “Oh, chugging along.” There, that is a springboard.

On one hand chugging along is good but it stuck me at the moment as sort of unexciting. Like we’re here but just going through the motions. Yes, yes chugging along is far better than being sick and infirmed but it is not saying much.
And not that I still don’t love my friends but it is that I want things better for people and for us.

I’m looking up pedestrian in the big fat paper dictionary. And what does it say Felipé? Pedestrian as a noun is “a person walking along a road or in a developed area.” And as an adjective it is “lacking inspiration or excitement; dull…” But wait, what does it say is the definition of a pilgrim? “pilgrim – a person who journeys to a sacred place for religious reasons.”

Well, this is all semi interesting Felipé but where are you going with this? Good question and maybe nowhere but look I am out of time for the moment. Maybe we could just ponder that and work on it later.

Lunchtime loves, Felipé.

Oh look, a little patch of blue sky, a hopeful sign. We could use a little dry out in between the rains. Well, they have all been light rains, showers really. Don’t want to scare anyone away.

I am having a conversation with Karen of Cambridge our Caminoheads England Bureau Chief. We are talking of the importance of inspiration in our ability to keep going on our cancer camino. Spell check doesn’t like an “s” on the end of camino to make it plural. And maybe that is better that way, yes? Maybe we share this camino although we have never met in person.

And I realize that in my case the importance of myths and quests in my daily going forward that serve to organize my life for me. They organize the chaos of cancer and other things. They simplify and streamline the jungle of it to let me pass through on my way. I realize that I am not using earthly logic here with this method of navigation. Somehow I have been able to be maneuver outside of the standard thinking and that has given me some sort of advantage in this journey.

There is a “for instance” here that I would like to mention because it is screaming at me presently. When we read the Beatitudes or the Sermon on the Mount in the book of Matthew we quickly run into the difference between earthly logic and heavenly logic. All our standard knowledge and thinking don’t seem to fit there anywhere. We are forced to start questioning our normal ways of thinking about things. Standard doesn’t work anymore.

And I am not saying that my view of my situation is somehow heavenly logic but it certainly is influenced by it. Or at least I was able to break with standard thinking by understanding that there are possibilities of other ways. Just sort of babbling here. All of a sudden I am self-conscious. Anyway I got that out for the world.

Looking forward in a few moments of getting some time in the corn. Weed control is the name of the game presently. One hour spent here now will be worth ten down the road.

OK, have to leave you, things call. Off we go loves, Felipé.