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!

End of the day

    Well... the Cathedral in Burgos is amazing.  Just looking at it from the outside was pretty awesome.  Í spent another hour and a half inside.  I just finished dinner and people are pouring into the streets of Burgos the same way the do in cities in Italy.  The evening is young, children are rested and now playing and eating ice cream.  I love the social aspect of these streets.
    Today though, I´ve been thinking about my friend Lucy from Trinity.  When Lucy heard I was going on the Camino she came up to me so excited.  She and her husband had visited this area of Spain (I imagine the cathedral in Burgos was among the sights) and she knew all about the Camino.  She was all for my walking it and wanted to know everything about how I was preparing.
    Later, when I let everyone know about my blog she was the first to tell me she had gone to it and would be following me everyday.  And I knew she would.  Lucy always did what she said she would.  But she died the Saturday before I left for Spain, and it was a great loss to me (as a companion to me on this journey) and to our church.
   You see, Lucy was one of those strong women in the church who was a provided leadership.  If Lucy said she would do something - it would be done.  For 15 -20 years I have heard talk (and for a while I tried to get this done) about getting signs up on the major street leading to the church.  We always ran into glitches.  When I heard Lucy was taking care of it, I knew it would be done.  She worked tirelessly to take care of details that kept Trinity going.  I was so looking forward to sharing with her about Spain upon my return.  But perhaps in a another sense she is truly with me on this journey.  On the days when I don´t think I´ll make it any farther, I can think of Lucy saying "oh you can do it, Cathy". 
   Tomorrow I begin the Meseta, a wilderness like part of the Camino that will go on for about 7 days until I arrive in Leon.  It is pretty much very exposed, no shade, miles upon miles with not much change in landscape except for some inclines up onto the mesas and back down.  At the church in San Juan de Ortega there was a whole intaglio with demons in each panel.  I do wonder what the demons will be that might emerge in the Meseta.  Keep me in your prayers.
   And also, would you keep Maria in your prayers.  She is a young woman I met from Korea day before yesterday.  She had stopped on a shaded bench.  She told me she was a nurse, but had quit to take care of both of her parents who had cancer.  They had gotten to be to much for her to care for them.  I´m not sure how, but she told me her father said for her to walk the Camino and take as much time as she needed.  She was a small woman, but her pack was huge.  I didn´t tell her it was too heavy, she´ll find that out for herself.  I have a feeling she will be needing to let go of some other things also.  Please hold her in your prayers.
   On to the Meseta!  May the experience of the wilderness be no less powerful than the other experiences of the Camino.  Bueno Camino!

Arrival in Borgos!

   Today I arrived in Borgus.  Tina, from Finland, and I decided to go as far as the last suburb before Burgos, then take the bus in.  We were joined by Mihael of Hungary and Ananda and Herman of South Africa.  It was a great idea as it meant the last 5 kilometers going through the edges of the city were eliminated and instead we experience the wonderful bus service in Burgos right to the old city.

    Besides, my feet were killing me.  I´d done another 19.5plus day yesterday.  I wasn´t as tired as the first time, but it still took it´s toll on me.  For instance, as I stepped out of the shower (fully clothed thank goodness) I realized I was in the men´s room.  Goodness!  It´s so hard to tell sometimes.

    Today I´m staying at the Divina Pastora, a hostel above the chapel La Capilla de la Divina Pastora.  They have mass tonight at 6:00.  Earlier, just after my arrival, the hospitalero (volunteer host) was serenading us on the guitar.  It was lovely, though I was a little surprised when he started to play The House of the Rising Sun.

    The walk earlier today was beautiful - through large forests of oak and then pine.  That opened up to rolling fields and at one point I could count 10 different wind turbine installations on the higher rises that seem to have a constant breeze.  I took some pictures and if I can figure out how to get them onto this blog I will do so.  The instructions are all in spanish and my first attempt was not very successful.  But I´ll try again.

   Off to explore Burgos.  More later...   Bueno Camino!

Sunday School Lessons

     No internet yesterday, just a story.  I had walked over 19.5 miles on Saturday, so I thought it might be good to kick back on Sunday and not push.  Walked around 9 miles then turned right thinking I was going to the Virgen de Gaudalupe Alberque.  Well... I kept following signs to the alberque and the bar.  Too late I realized I was actually walking to the next town - within a stones throw of Cirequa (sp?).  So I followed the signs to the bar and asked for the alberque.  They spoke no english, but we communicated and the husband walked me over.  It was lovely - a fairly new place (kind of like a town house) where I believe the family had their apartment, then they had 7 bunk beds in a basement room with a nice window in it.  I was thrilled it was so clean and I had the shower to myself.
    It was about 11:30.  I went through the usual routine of showering, washing clothes and hanging them out.  Then I took my journal outside to the fountain and sat on a bench and wrote for a while.  Lovely afternoon - a few clouds, coolish breeze.  There were some children riding their bikes.  After a while I went to check on my clothes and decided to grab my guide book and check on the options for stopping the next day.  BUT I couldn´t find my guidebook!  Disaster!  While you can walk the whole Camino without a map, I really needd my guidebook as it shows the distance to the next town and tells whether or not there is an alberque, and if it is half-way decent.  My anxiety level began to rise.  And with the anxiety of no guidebook I started feeling anxious about the alberque - would no one else show up since it was a little off the camino?  Would I be completely by myself?
    After looking all around and not finding it, I realized I needed to calm down.  I could go have a wine, but I thought hmmm...  maybe this is one of those moments when I´m suppose to check in with God.  So I went back outside and entered into prayer.  I gave everything up to God, my panic, my anxiety, my concerns.  I tried to listen and be ready if I felt God encouraging me to travel by faith without a book at all.  Or would someone arrive at the alberque who could help me out.  I started to feel reassurance that all would be alright.   I started to feel like I really could trust the intuition that had led me to this alberque at this time and I would be with the right people if anyone else showed up.
   So then I went for my glass of wine.  As I sat outside I looked up to see a couple a little older than me come up.  They were from Sweden.  I told them they were at the right place and they went in and arranged to stay at the alberque.  After they had settled in they returned to the bar and we visited a little.  They told me they had gone to the other alberque, but when they´d asked the lady if they could see the room she yelled at them :¨" This is not a museum".  The lady said she had time though to notice that it was not very clean.  (Actually, today I met some Australians who stayed there.  They described it as a concentration camp, very strict.  That´s probably the only negative description I´ve heard of an alberque so far).  So I HAD chosen the right place.
   After a while I left to take in my laundry.  As I was getting things organized I moved my pillow and thought I saw something on the floor behind the bed.  Guess what?  It was my guidebook.  All that worrying for nothing!  But good lessons and faith deepened.  A good Sunday indeed.
    Today I am staying in Villamayor Del Rio.  Another tiny town about 8 km east of Burgos.  I was delighted to walk into the room and find that Cathy-Jo from MN was there.  I had first heard about her days ago.  My other two roommates are from England.  They are musicians who I have seen in the distance walking.  Merwanna is carrying her harp and Craig is carrying his guitar.  So after I showered I headed outside to do my laundry.  Merwanna was outside in the garden playing her harp.  How lovely and relaxing as I hung my clothes on the line.  I heard from a Finnish woman that they often give concerts in the evening.  I´m hoping they´re in the mood tonight after dinner!
    May the loveliness of good music be with you.  Bueno Camino!

Following the signs

    Both friends who have walked the Camino and books that I read said Keep your boots DRY.  So I had my ¨waterproof¨ boots which have worked great until today.   It was raining as we left Logrono so I put on my poncho.  The rain picked up and by the time I was out of town my pants were drenched.  When I stopped for breakfast I wrung out my socks and put on dry ones.  So much for dry boots.

   So as I was walking in the rain I was thinking about signs.  I think I saw somewhere that there are 500 something kilometers left to Santiago.  That means I´ve traveled at least 200 kilometers - without a map.  It´s amazing to think of walking that distance, just looking for the signs that will continue to lead you forward. 

   The symbol of the Camino is the scallop shell.  The ¨logo¨ has a yellow shell on a blue background.  As you move through villages and towns you just look for the shell on the next building, or in the direction to head.  To further guide the pilgrims there are yellow arrows painted everywhere.  It is amazing how well these two symbols work to guide us.  However, each town and region has their own little twist.  In looking for the signs I´m thinking how well some of the things I´ve learned apply to discerning our way in the bigger pilgrimage of life.

    First... you have to be alert.  The first day there were many pilgrims and I had my friend Santiago.  I tried watching to see what he was seeing and he showed me the initial symbols.  But I wasn´t always aware of what he saw.  As I´ve continued to walk I´ve learned the importance of always being alert for the signs.  I think in any discernment process there is the need to be alert to the signs that may be given to us.  We have to pay attention.

   Second...  But sometimes it´s helpful to have company while we discern.  Last Monday my friend Cathy and I consulted a number of times as we looked for the symbols to guide us through the city of Pamplona.  We both learned some skills for how to see the signs that I know I have continued to use on my own.            
    Third...  Enjoy the big signs.  Every so often there a really big yellow arrow on the side of a building, a rock, a marker.  No doubt about what we´re suppose to do.  I remember when I was discerning if I should enter into the training for Spiritual Direction (Tending the Soul in the NY-Troy conference).  I had put it off and put it off then one day an announcement was emailed and I checked the brochure.  As I looked at each of the dates (3 4-day retreats in each of the two year process) I realized I had every single date available.  I knew that wasn´t going to happen often and saw that as a big sign that I needed to register!
    Fourth...  Watch for the subtle little signs.  As I´ve walked the Camino, every so often I´m on a longer stretch and realize I haven´t seen a shell or an arrow in a while.  I start to get a little concerned: did I miss a turn off?  Did everyone else go a different way?  Then I´ll see a little sign.  Usually it is a cairn - someone has stacked rocks on the side of the road.  That doesn´t happen randomly.  I believe it is done very intentionally by pilgrims who have traveled before me.  At least three times I have seen a hillside or large area covered with 20-40 cairns.  At first it is not apparently and then as I focus, there they are.  This morning as I was walking I been following a number of pilgrims for quite a while when I noticed no one was in front of me any more.  I was looking around as I walk, and there it was, the sign that I needed.  There was a metal fence on my side (kind of like a chain link, but more open) and in it there were crosses from twigs.  People had been doing this for some time as the crosses continued as long as the fence.  They were at the top, at the bottom, and everywhere in between.  Again, I had the assurance that many, many had already walked this way.  The sign assured me I was traveling the right path.

   And fifth...  Keep looking ahead.  I had to learn to read music differently when I played handbells as you have to notice when your bell is coming up and be ready.  In watching for the signs on the Camino, sometimes you have to look ahead, and in some cases it means walking out into an intersection or to the next block to see what might be there.  This morning I was leaving town behind a Spanish gentleman.  At one point he continued straight, but it seemed to me that the arrow was pointing diagonally.  So I decided to check it out.  When I crossed diagonally I found the next shell in the pavement marking a diagonal path through a park.  I yelled at my fellow pilgrim and we continued on the path.  We sometimes have to move into the next stage to see the confirmation that we need.

    The rain let up shortly after my breakfast break in Navarette and because there was a nice cloud cover I walked my longest day - 19.5 miles.  So now I shall take a break to let my body recover - I´m not the only one walking hesitantly.

    May God be with you as you look for directional signs in your life.  Bueno Camino!

Some pilgrim friends

   It´s time to introduce you to some of my pilgrim friends.  It´s kind of like traveling with a session of the United Nations.  I think I mentioned I was in Spain for over 24 hours before I heard someone speak English.  That was Rachel and turns out she lives in Northampton - a half hour north of Springfield.  In Zubiri I met a number of others, two who were also at the alburque with me in Arre.  Cathy from Ontario Canada and I traveled together through Pamplona and on Tuesday I walked for a while with Polly.
    In Cirauqui I met Susanna, a 24 year old from England who is teaching Spanish in Valencia and also a young lady from Slovakia.  I saw both of them again the next day, but they were moving on to Los Arcos while I stopped at Vallemayor de Monjardin.  Unless they take a day off I probably won´t see them again.
    I met Mike from Canada along with Helena and John from way up in the NW territory of Canada at the alberque in Z....   a name I never did quite get.  Last night Helena and John showed up at the alberque in Torres del Rey and I just saw Mike here in Logrono.  He told me he had dinner with Polly last night.  If I take a day off I just might reconnect with her.
    Up to today the only other American I´d met was Claudia from North Carolina.  However, today I just met Rita from FL.  I have heard there is a ¨Cathy¨ from Minnesota - but haven´t met her yet.  Mihael, from Hungary showed up at the alberque last night and ended up in the bunk over me again.  And guess what, 90 beds here in Logrono and I just saw him upstairs - for the third night in the bunk over me.
    As I was walking out to the courtyard to do my laundry I saw David and Carmen.  Had not seen them since Zuribi where he was performing acupuncture on her knee and helping another young lady with her knee.  He also worked on a couple of backs that evening.  They´re from France and I envy that they speak French, Spanish and English. 
    It´s an interesting dynamic...  You meet someone, have dinner together, walk a few days, run into people again, and it´s like meeting up with old friends.  I can see that with this being just the first week this Camino community will continue to expand.  Ahhh... wouldn´t it be great if people from all countries could always sit down and share meals together:  We would be much more interested in bread and wine than war!  Well, I hear a bell ringing outside and my curiosity is getting to me.  I´m going to check it out.  Bueno Camino!

Traveling lighter

      Yesterday I walked into Estella thinking I would stay over there.  But I arrived over 2 hours before the alberque opened, so instead I went to the post office and shipped some thing home.  Not a whole lot, but I can see how every little bit makes a difference.  Last Monday I walked with Cathy from Canada (who, but the way, shares the same birthday as I) as we were both looking for a post office.  We were talking about how it seemed like we were cutting back so much as we decided what to take with us, and how now that we´re on the Camino it seems like we have so much!  I thought I was traveling light since I didn´t have a cell phone... only my camera and the GPS my dear husband gave me.  In Arre I left behind an extra bar of soap and broke my bar of face soap in half.  (Unfortunately, the next day I had the chance to do laundry in a machine and accidently through in the half bar of soap.  It may never be the same). 
    So,  I sent back a very little purse (that worked great for my trip to Spain), a neck pillow (that I probably wouldn´t use again until the plane home), extra packets of laundry detergent and, among other things,  my luxury item, peppermint foot cream.  I´d like to think I´m traveling lighter. 
    As I walk the pack feels fine.  It´s when I stop that I realize the toll the weight has had on my back, my feet, my legs.  I wonder what else I might be carrying that doesn´t feel too heavy, but is actually weighing on other parts of me.  Lots of time to think on the Camino.
   Last night I stayed at an alberque hosted by an ecumenical group from the Netherlands.  There were 3 young people serving as our hosts.  We had a lovely dinner looking out from the mountain top setting as a thunderstorm rolled through.  Afterwards they announced a short meditation service at 8:30.  I went.  It was wonderful.  As I sat there they played some beautiful relaxing quiet music.  I could look out the picture window at the church tower rising from the building just below the alberque.  Every so often the young woman shared a short prayer or read a scripture.  It was a lovely time for centering on the core reason for the walking the Camino.  I slept soundly and headed West at 6:30 this morning.  I should make it to Logroño tomorrow.  Beuno Camino!