Well, here we are on the far side of the holidays. I am grateful, everything turned out peachy. Peachy, that’s a spring type term. I saw the first little flower shoots pushing up out of the soil yesterday. It starts out slowly but soon it is a cascade, peachy that is.

Sincerely hope that you all have survived the festivities. Slight hangovers are OK. Slight everything is OK. I see Pope Francis had to apologize, happens to the best of us. Time to sweep up the debris and get going.

We had four pilgrims stop by yesterday afternoon out of the blue. I took them for a walk and gave them the ten cent tour. They were sweet, I couldn’t resist. They heard about me from friends who heard it on the Camino, that Phil’s Camino was on Vashon Island so they came and found me. Geez, really. They bought a DVD and left a donation for bird seed and went on their merry way. News gets around.

Walking in a few minutes. Maybe I will take some pics along the trail. Still trying to learn how to use my new smart phone and haven’t taken a photo yet. It is dry this morning but rain coming this afternoon again.

OK, I am going to bail out, or is it bale out? Anyway, time is short. Happy New Year and all that!

big smiles loves, Felipé.

Geez, it doesn’t get any more firstest than this! Off we go on a big adventure into 2020. I think that we all need some fresh air at this point.

I am off to church here in a few minutes. I have usher duty this morning for 10 o’clock Mass. So, I have a few minutes to write to you. We all have festivities today so I was hoping say hello to you first before all that.

Jim came over for dinner and a movie last evening. My Rebecca found her favorite Christmas film Mixed Nuts and we watched that. Jim and I spoke about the up coming corn planting since the seed catalogs are here and plans need to be formulated. Jim has stepped up to be my big helper with the project for which I am grateful.

The big push in between now and corn planting is cutting and splitting of the firewood for next year. I am looking at six alder trees that could be removed for that. And it looks like I need to get more harvested than I have been getting in in recent years. This new stove seems to burn fuel at a faster rate than the old one. I am starting to notice and we will run short before this spring. But never fear for St. John Vianney Church has a firewood ministry. They have dry wood to give out in emergencies. I think I will plead my case and get a pickup load to hold us over. Bless those guys.

So, with a little help from our friends we move along. Gratitude is the keyword here to remember. So, let me take this moment to wish you all a very Happy New Year. We need this new year so badly.

With gratitude loves, Felipé.

We had a little going away party for Jessika last evening. We made mushroom barley soup and had some white wine. Then we watched Two Popes. That is a great movie and I want to watch it again soon.

Yea, check it out. It is the story of an important moment in history. That is the way to look at it I think. I’m following the thought of film reviewer Sister Rose Pacatte who just wrote about it on FB. If one knew a lot about the two one could possibly start poking holes in it. But it’s strong point is about the change that occurred and that is what we should concentrate on.

There is a wonderful biography about Pope Francis that I read a couple of years ago now. That is Pilgrimage by Mark K. Shriver. As I remember there were three parts to it. First was a rundown on the Jesuits. Second was a view of Buenos Aires and third finally the biography proper. That all worked well and I learned a lot.

But the film added beauty to the whole story for me. It was all well done visually. Part of the time they are just these two guys hanging out in the Sistine Chapel. How can that not be beautiful!

Let’s see what else is beautiful. Earlier two foam boxes filled with dry ice and barbecue came in from Corky’s in Memphis. That is compliments of Bill and Tracey, the in-laws. Beautiful! That’s what’s on the menu for New Year’s Day.

OK, the afternoon walk coming up here shortly.

time to go, Happy New Year loves, Felipé.

Toward the bitter end of 2019 and we are still walking toward Muxia. We are very close and should be there this morning or on the Tuesday walk, the last of the year. I feel this need to go back to Santiago on foot and enter it on the west side. So, let’s do that and that should keep us busy for Janurary.

Jessika is coming for dinner tonight and I am in charge of cooking. I have in mind to make some soup, maybe mushroom, maybe oxtail. Winter time soup making is one of the better things to do in my book. Oh and we might watch a movie this evening. It is a going away party for her as she is on her way to Minnesota for a number of months before the pilgrimage to Lourdes with the Order of Malta in May. High times.

And today is New year’s Eve Eve. Time to start to close out the old and to find the new. I am really looking forward to this, this year. To tell you the truth I have never been big on it but this year I feel a difference. We will talk more about it.

Well, walking in 15 minutes, time to find my boots and gloves. On the downhill into Muxia out there. Who will come today?

feeling the excitement loves, Felipé.

Catherine and I did something radical this morning. We changed our seats, which doesn’t sound like too big a deal but it is. We have been pretty much in our old position for years. We needed a change to hear better mostly so we got right in front of Father and the lectern where he gives the homily. It is close up seats on the fifty yard line. Why didn’t we do this a long time ago?

It is the new year’s inspiration to try something new, I can feel it. At the same time that we moved to a new place this morning we noticed that our good friends Bruce and Gina moved all the way across to our old section, in an opposite move. Hehe.

Anyway what is important is the uncovering of this energy to try something new. I’m feeling it and this has me working on some other new things in my life. Cris put an idea in my head that I am working on but I don’t want to spill the beans yet. It is too new and unformed. I ran it by My Rebecca and Catherine and they liked it. So…

It’s pretty nice outside and I want to get out there. Make some moves on the

Aho’i there, lost in a sea of bowl games. Peach Bowl on right now. Cris from Buenos Aires has no idea what I am talking about. Just a sea of late season football games going on Cris. Amazing how much American energy goes into football.

But trying to navigate through the holiday season is our top priority right now. Pace is important, right? Keep it steady, move along in a relaxed manner. Get it done, no fancy multitasking, just one thing at a time. Well, that’s my plan.

But that is only part of it. Walks on Phil’s Camino are happening. Next one tomorrow at 3:30. And there are projects around the ranch that still need to keep moving along. Right now it is oil changes on the fleet.

And heck there is still time to maybe catch the occasional sunrise or sunset. Beauty happens randomly, right? Poetry even happens sometimes. And pretty soon I am going to be taken with looking for signs of spring. That is special and encouraging. Nothing like spring and it IS on the horizon for us.

OK, time to make stuff happen.

best in between times loves, Felipé.

Where are we? Let’s see, it’s Friday today. When was Christmas, Wednesday? And New Year’s Eve is when? I have to look at the calendar. OK, that is Tuesday coming up. I am so confused with this, It all seems a jumbled.

But one thing that I do know is that not a single fruitcake showed up so far. I know it seems like a small thing but maybe it is the sign of something. Maybe a trend. I’m calling it good.

So, now at this point I am going to just put one foot ahead of the other and walk my way slowly through the rest and of this season. People are coming and going and I just want to smile and make the best of it and get through it.

Am I going to make any resolutions? Hmm. I don’t know. I have never been big on this but I do feel the need to make a change or two.

OK, a shortie today. Might be halftime in the holiday season. Time to take a breath and regroup.

what is candied fruit anyhow, loves, Felipé.

Monday 0900-1000
Tuesday 1530-1630
Thursday 0900-1000
Sunday 1530-1630

Hoping you will come by sometime, Felipé.

The year was 1966 and there I was, there we were, at infamous Parris Island, South Carolina. This takes the cake for my craziest Christmas ever. They say there is the right way and the wrong way and the Marine Corps way and I was definitely armpit deep in the Marine Corps way.

Actually I was there for the whole holiday season including Thanksgiving. The program was twelve weeks long down from sixteen weeks during peacetime. The leader of these merry times was my Chief Drill Instructor Staff Sergeant Everette MacDonald. I actually tracked him down a while back and talked to him for an hour just before he died. My knees were shaking the whole time.

But I just really want to tell you about the Christmas “Party” that Sgt Mac Donald threw for us. For weeks packages had been arriving from various guys mom’s with goodies. We looked on with joy. They were all carefully stacked in one particular closet. Then sometime at the appropriate time we were informed that it was time for the party. We were aglow as the boxes were laid out before us.

All the Assistant Drill Instructors were there for the festivities. And the announcement was made that training commenced in ten minutes so we had 9 minutes and some seconds to finish all this stuff up. One hundred and seven guys ripped into this mound of boxes and started stuffing things in our mouths. There were boxes from maybe all the States, Canada, Mexico, Indian reservations included. No one knew whose Mom’s stuff was whose which was kind of a Holy Communion in itself. I remember eating half a dozen candy bars wrappers and all. It was nuts but we survived and had a “good time”.

Just a little cheery glimpse into Marine Corps training holiday type. It was always challenging, demanding and included some sort of spiritual/ historic component. Also, it was largely geared to teach how to operate in environments that don’t make sense. I just wanted to throw this paragraph in because I think that this is key in dealing with cancer. Cancer does not make sense, no way. But somehow I have an advantage and have been able to operate there, just a thought.

cheery holiday loves, Felipé.

Here it is before anyone is up. Time to think of you and yours in places near and far. Wondering how you are. Wondering how you are faring. Well, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone.

There are so many wonderful posts on FaceBook this morning. Thank you for sending those around. My favorite was Ronaldo’s (CABC) with the sugar packet nativity scene. Just like some pilgrims would cobble together on the trail.

Well, cuteness, cleverness and profundity escape me this morn as the yule log burns on TV. Just want to wish you a Merry Christmas and thank you for your friendship.

Only the best loves, Felipé.