Hiking

    Yesterday I had a nice walk in Forest Park.  A friend joined me in the morning which was great.  I took it easy and only did about 10 miles as I was wearing sneakers instead of my hiking boots.  I bought very good hiking boot about 2 years ago and one of them ripped in the heal area.  I wanted to have them well broken in by August, but I wasn't expecting them to start wearing out!  Luckily my shoe repair guy us putting in a new lining in the back, so I'll be ready to go again next week.
   Last Friday I went to Vermont with ten others from my church and we hiked Mt Okemo.  We had great weather and a lovely day, but I felt a big difference.   Going up was okay on the legs, but I had to stop visiting from time to time so I could concentrate on breathing.  Coming down I could breathe, but ohhh, were my legs getting tired.  The hike is roughly 5.8 miles with an ascent around 1900 feet and a beautiful view of the area (if you climbed stairs up the fire tower).  My thighs continued to remind me about the hike for another 3 days!
   When I got home I checked my Camino guide book to take another look at the daily ascents.  I think I'll be okay as they do get up into the 1500 and 1600 foot range, but they are spread over more miles.  I might be going up a short while, down, level for a number of miles, then back up again.  At least that is my hope!  I'm not certain I could take hiking a mountain more than one day in a row.
   So I started thinking...  I refer to walking the Camino de Santiago, but last week we talked about hiking, not walking up Mt Okemo.  I don't know what I've thought the difference was between walking and hiking, but after Friday I thought it might have to do with pain.  So I looked up the definition of hike.  Here's what I found in my Webster's dictionary:  as a verb it is "take a long walk" while as a noun it is "long walk."  Hmmm... guess I'm hiking the Camino de Santiago.  Whatever I call it I am going to have to put one foot in front of the other and keep moving forward.  Blessings to you as you move forward on your journey this week.

What I will miss...

Abby, Kaya & Keller last year

    I spent a lovely day with my three grandchildren on Thursday.  In the past that would be quite a workout, but now that Keller is six, Kaya is seven and Abby is almost eight, they are less labor intensive.  We went to a wonderful production of Rapunzel at the Paintbox Theater in Northampton.  They always put a great spin on these fairy tales and had the kids up dancing, yelling at the actors, giving stage directions, you name it.  In fact all three of them got to go on stage briefly as they joined others playing the part of Rapunzel's large, hungry family.  Afterwards we went to Look Park and enjoyed a picnic followed by time in the waterpark and on the playground.  Now that I don't have to chase after them they can expend their energy while I sit and enjoy watching them.
   One of the things I thought of as I watched was how much I will miss them while I am away on the Camino.  Six weeks is a long time to be away from children.  School will start, teeth may come out, accidents may happen, accomplishments will be confirmed, and I won't be there.  But one thing will not change... I have always held my grandchildren up in prayer each day and I imagine that while on the Camino I will be able to do this extravagantly.  If nothing else, I will have time.
    Of course there are a number of other things that I will miss while I'm walking - all my possessions in my backpack.  More thoughts on that at another time.

A Day of Walking and a few gifts

    Each time I spend a day walking I learn more.  Last Friday I walked 12.5 miles, and I felt good at the end!  That's exciting because I usually drag myself into the house and generally look like I'm in a state of shock.  I think the fact that I had walked 5.6 miles each morning on the treadmill for the 4 days prior made a big difference.
   This week I was away on Monday and Tuesday, then only managed 3.8 miles on Wednesday and finally 5.6 miles on Thursday.  I was pleased that I walked 13.7 miles yesterday - but oh!  I paid for it.  My feet and legs were aching throughout the evening.  I'm encouraged though.  I'm thinking that the daily walking really helps - I'll get to test that theory this coming week.  If that is the case, then perhaps walking the camino will get easier as the days progress.
   I love walking in Forest Park.  Everytime I'm there I see a great blue heron (maybe the same one each time?)  This week it was flying over.  Last week I saw it fly from one little pond to another and then I watched it watch for fish.  What a gift to see this bird each week (and if it's at the park, then maybe it won't be eating the fish in our pond at home).  This week I also saw many red-winged black birds.  Seems like I was able to get closer to them than usual.  Then there's the cute chipmonk population running around and I saw a black squirrel on my way home.  That was unusual.
   There was a whole group of special needs adults getting ready to get on the little train at the park as I walked by.  I imagine that had a great time on their train ride.  Later I saw a van of elders from Keystone arriving at the park.  I'm not sure if they were going to have lunch, or maybe just see the ducks?  It was a beautiful day for their outing.
    June 26th has passed, less than two months until I leave for Spain.  What will I see there?  May all of our eyes be opened throughout this holiday weekend to see the blessings offered to us.  Peace.