Shooting Stars and Hospitality

   I had the most amazing day yesterday (Sept 9).  But first I must preface it with Sept. 8th.  On that day I left Burgos.  Burgos is a lovely city - an amazing park all along the river (sure beats I-91 along the CT river in Springfield).  But it is harder walking in the city for some reason.  And as we left we passed warehouses, then a quarry which was very noisy.  Just beyond that there was machinery working on building a large highway (I have some fears about the Camino as I see "progress").  Then on to a walk on glaring white rock as the day got hotter.  There were field of harvest hay around us, just short stalks of straw left in the ground.  A few had been plowed and the soil was full of good size white rocks.

   So around 1:00 when I arrived in Hornillos I was ready to stop.  So was everyone else, and they must have been faster than I.  The 36 bed alberque was already full and the 1st overflow building also.  So the couple before me and myself followed the lady over to the gymnasium where cots had been set up around the outside walls.  The gymnasium was HUGE!  Very, very high ceiling.  Soccer nets at each end.  Flies everywhere.  I hesitated a moment, but thought, no, I need to just take what is offered.  I was grateful for a place to sleep and started looking for blessings.

   The first was the bathroom - newly renovated with the first shower I´ve taken that had a whole room to itself.  It was spotless!  The next was meeting the young lady who took the bed next to mine.  Ann Marie is from England.  She was going to walk for one week, but then she was laid off from her job (said she didn´t care for her boss anyway), so she decided to walk from Burgos to Santiago.  Unemployed she´s on a low budget walk.  She was delightful to talk with - more about her later.

    The town of Hornillos seemed to not have a single tree and of the 3 benches lining the short road through town only one was in shade.  So most of the 60 plus peregrinos took a siesta.  I found the gym depressing so I followed the shade around the church pillars and did very little (except walking to the tiny market to get a few food supplies for the next day.  In the evening people did come out and I met Walter from Austria as we shared tapas at the bar.  I was pretty sure they were going to be on overload for dinner so Walter and I both had the same idea. 

    After dinner I visited the church which had opened and stayed in its cool sanctuary for quite a while.  Then in the shade on the steps outside I had a lovely conversation with Bente from Denmark.  She too decided to celebrate her 60th birthday on the Camino - but she´s actually turning 60 later this week.  She had already walked from Leon to Santiago, so this time she walked started in St Jean de Pied and will end in Leon.  Sonn Fabienne from Switzerland joined us.  She´s 19 and has just ended her formal education so she is taking her sabbatical year (seems to be assumed all students will take one year off before going on to university).   She decided to walk the Camino though her mother was concerned about her safety.  She convinced her to let her walk for a month starting from Burgos.  She continued to tell us about some of the majors she is considering - they are quite diverse.  As the sun set we headed to our respective sleeping areas and I found that the tiny matress surrounded me like a cocoon and I slept soundly until 5:15AM

    At that point I awoke refreshed and ready to go.  I thought I would start early and beat the heat that would come with the day.  As I walked from the dark gym into the dark alley I was stunned by a sky absolutely packed with stars I had never seen.  Orion was right in front of me complete with shield - something I do not get to see in the Springfield sky.   Then the day was set as I saw a shooting star across the sky.  I walked down the alley past the church and back onto the road through town.  Still looking up I saw another shooting star.  And just beyond town as I set my pace on the Camino path I saw still another.  It doesn´t get much better than this I thought!  So I walked, sometimes hearing the conversation of the German gentleman in front of me who is walking with his mother (who is probably in her 70s).  It was a lovely quiet walk and since the path is so flat in this area I could walk without a flashlight, surrounded by a sky of stars.

    Soon there was first light, then a little more and by the time I had climbed the path up the hillside I could look back and see the first red glow of the coming day.  I had to continually turn around to watch this beautiful sunrise.  As I walked I was passed by other pilgrims (on occasion I pass someone - but not often.  I met a few new pilgrims such as Benton from Ireland.  He told me he went there from Scotland years ago and stayed. 

    But then I came around a corner to see the ruins of the Monastery of San Anton.  It was run by an order started in France that traces its history back to the St. Anthony of Egypt.  The ruins were of a towering cathedral type building with arched windows open to the blue sky beyond.  And over the Camino there was St Anthony´s arch with two little nooks in it where bread would be left for the peregrinos passing by.  I walked inside the ruins and knew immediately that I was going to stay over there even though it was only 10:30 in the morning.  I sat for quite a while then met Alvaro, the hospitalero (volunteer host) and asked him when the alberque opened.  He warned me that there was no electricity or hot water and when I said that was okay he took me to a small room connected to the main area where there were 6 bunkbeds.  I chose my place and changed to my sandals.

    The ruins were constantly visited by peregrinos.  At one point Fabienne arrived, limping.  She said she had a year old ankle injury and had brought her brace, but had not expected it to flair up so quickly.  So she hoped to call a taxi to take her to Castojerez (only 5 km away).  She went to talk with Alvaro, but he said he would just take her there.  While they were talking a doctor and his wife, a nurse, came in and they checked her ankle, made some recommendations and gave her two pain pills.  Then I was appointed (with a 5 minute training) as hospitalero until Alvaro returned.  As I was sitting in the main area - open to the outside who should arrive but Santiago.  I thought he was days ahead of me by now.  We had a lovely reunion, talked in our awkward sign language, wished each other Bueno Camino and he was off again.  It was so good to be able to see him again and thank him for his help.

    So Alvaro was back.  As I walked back outside I saw Ann Marie in a corner of the ruins busily working on a watercolor of one section.  She had a a pad of paper, a large box of watercolors and a number of brushes with large handles.  She said she was trying to paint each day and showed me her work.  She was doing a lovely job.  Alvaro had already talked to me about lunch (to be served about 2:30) so when Ann Marie talked about wanting to stay I told her I was staying over and lunch would be served.  She decided to stay.  Later as we ate our garlic soup and drank wine Nicola from Germany arrived and joined us and just as we were finishing Sabina, also from Germany, arrived.  Both stayed for the night.  We enjoyed the time and the day seemed to unfold in just the way each of us needed. 

    We took our cold showers and found it was not terrible.  Later we fixed a huge salad and around 8:30 sat and shared another meal then cleaned up.  As dusk fell Alvaro started lighting many, many tea light set on rocks in little nooks throughout one slightly curved area of the ruins.  We sat outside and just drank in the coming night and watched the stars start to appear.  We could not see as many as in the early morn however due to the rising of an almost full moon which was so brightly reflected in the ruins that we did not need a light outside and shadows were cast on the otherside.  We quietly got ready for bed and slept soundly.

    The harried worker at the alberque in Hornillos did her best, but there was little room for hospitality.  At the ruins of a monastery we found endless hospitality.  May you find hospitality when you need it and offer it to all you meet.  It can help each of us through the day.  Bueno Camino!