BLOG about PAINTING

While on Vashon, we had the honour and the pleasure of walking Phil's Camino. 'What', you ask, 'is Phil's Camino?'

The short answer would be: Watch the documentary, Phil's Camino. Unfortunately, it is not yet available except at select film festivals. So we need to go to the long answer.

Phil Volker is one Cool Old Guy. A few years back, Phil was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer and began a regimen of heavy duty chemo and other treatments. Now, if Phil were an ordinary guy, he might have hunkered down on his lonesome, feeling sorry for himself. But Phil had heard about the Camino de Santiago, the pilgrimage across Spain that has lured pilgrims for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. In his spiritual searching, he wished that he could walk the Camino to help him deal with his situation. But he couldn't - He was stuck here on Vashon Island, getting chemo every two weeks. No way could he head off to walk across Spain.

Now, Phil is a hands-on kind of guy. So he thought, if he couldn't go to the Camino in Spain, why not bring the Camino to Vashon? And that's what he did. He carved out a trail around his property on Vashon and started to walk his own personal pilgrimage. He kept track of every lap and mapped out his progress against the Camino francés route in Spain. Day by day, he travelled across the Basque territories, the Meseta and Galicia - all on his own 10 acres. It took six months, but he did it! And, as he walked and walked and walked, he grew stronger. And he still longed to do the 'real' Camino in Spain.

He shared his dream with his medical team, They, impressed with his efforts and his fitness, embraced his drearm. They decided that if his scans were really good, he could skip one of the bi-weekly treatments, which would give him a 28-day window in which to go to Spain and actually walk the Camino.

God moves in mysterious ways. Phil's scans were good; He got his window. And off to Spain he went... in the heat of summer, no less. But he did it. Phil walked the Camino. He did the whole peregrino thing, he made it to Santiago, he attended mass in the Cathedral and he got his compostela!

But things didn't end there. Phil came back to Vashon. He came back to his treatments. And he came back to his own personal Camino. Phil's walking it again. He walks four days a week, and he welcomes anyone who wants to walk with him. And there are many. Some are Vashon Islanders who come time and again. Some are one-time visitors who only get to do a circuit or two but who will carry the memory for years. Some, like my husband and I, get to share a few days on Phil's Camino.

I can't begin to describe how wonderful it is to walk around Phil's fields, greeted by gentle horses, impressed by his corn (that the deer are having the audacity to eat), delighted by his woods. and then to sit around his picnic table, sharing tapas with Phil, his lovely wife Rebecca, and the other nifty people who have chosen to walk the walk with this special man.

Word is getting out. People are coming from far and wide to share Phil's Camino. Among them was Annie O'Neil, one of the six people featured in WALKING THE CAMINO; SIX WAYS TO SANTIAGO. She met Phil. She, too, was enchanted by his deep understanding and chose to make a documentary about his journey. It is PHIL'S CAMINO, mentioned at the very beginning of this blog. See http://philscamino.com/.