“Ramble On” Led Zeppelin.

“Good day, fellow pilgrims.

The Autumn is my favorite time of the year. We only get so many Falls, so many Springs, so many Summers, so many Winters. Particularly, though, it is the Fall that appeals most to me. Next time I walk the Camino, it will be in the cooler months of Fall, unlike the sweltering, unrelenting sun of mid-June/July. Summer 2017 was a scorcher on the Camino Francés.

The Fall this year is ending our major transition as a family from our beloved West Coast back to the East Coast. One thing I know for sure is that it is the people that make the place. It is good here.
The Fall allows us to wear that nice flannel, or hoody. It helps us breathe better, especially here on the East Coast with the humidity. Back West, the Fall brings much needed rain. It will bring respite to the entire coast, allow you to breathe again.
The Fall has a certain smell to it. It smells of the pumpkin field with rotting, dying leaves. It smells of cooler air. You can smell Football in the air too, seriously. This particular Fall, we can start to close in on a very tumultuous year. We can start to think about moving forward to the next year. What will it have in store? One thing I know for sure is that what literally did not kill us will make us stronger in 2021.
Recently got a bad case of poison ivy. Went rapid throughout my arms, legs. Doing yard work in the summer got me. Was the price to pay for some logs to be moved into the brush that I have out back in the ravine behind my house. It is not pleasant to have the ivy on the skin. It reminds me of the chance we all take everyday to enjoy life. With the good, comes the not so great sometimes, but it is all worth it.
I admire people who keep moving, keep going on with life despite life’s guaranteed setbacks. “The Man in the Arena” speech by Theodore Roosevelt is always in the background of my mind when I am trying to make something happen.
I think of people with handicaps in life that they overcome. One of my daughters is dyslexic we think. To overcome this, she has reinvented the English language in her mind and she has overcome it. People with bad anxiety issues can push through each day and make it work. One step at a time, sometimes. We can all learn from someone who has to work things different to overcome.

Gotta keep moving, or, “KEEP WALKING”.

One thing I am confident about with this pandemic is that it will end. We will see how we all racked and stacked during a time of crises. I think we will be ok in the end. It has certainly re- centered us to get back to the basic like enjoying the leaves turning orange, light brown. Smelling that cool air coming back. Watching the rains drench the fires. Having that big bon- fire in the backyard, sitting in your favorite camping chair, having a beverage of your choice. Hearing the sound of the ax split the small logs that Phil so ever-perfectly, stacks next to his house on Vashon Island.
Phil, if there was an award for properly stacking wood, you would be the champion.

Fall loves,
Cheers:))
Ryck“