The universe stays in balance

    So this morning Maria from England and I are waiting for the 7:50 bus to Leon.  We have made the decision to walk so we can enjoy Leon since we are not staying an extra day.  And we are talking about how we are working on the inner voices that say we should feel guilty.  The hospitalero told us we did not have to go to the bus station, the bus would stop for us at this plaza.  We saw the 7:50AM bus coming into the plaza, the driver saw us, and the bus continued over the bridge toward Leon.  So we walked to the bus station (plan B) and took the 9:05 bus (kind of 9:25).   Only 1,30€for the lovely 25 minute ride to Leon.
    When I got out at the bus station, my feet thanked me and all was well again.  So I started walking towards the old part of the city where I would find the Monastery Alberque.  All was great until I got into the old city - think Boston with even narrower streets, going in all directions.  I wandered for 45 minutes.  I asked an older man how to get to the Plaza Santa Maria and he helped me walk part way where another older man helped me to walk the rest of the way.  Only thing is they helped me to get to Plaza Santa Isadora on the other side of the old town.  But all was well again when Barbara and Carl for Germany called my name.  They were on the way to get a replacement battery for her watch so I stopped and ate breakfast at the plaza and when they returned they walked me to the alberque.  Wonderful people on the Camino!
    But then... I waited for almost an hour as the line crept very slowly to check into the alberque.  While there Joyce from Virginia arrived - I haven´t seen her in a week.  We visited for a while.  I found myself praying for patience as I could not understand how it could take so long to check in each person (write their name, country, age and where they started the camino).  Perhaps this was pennace for taking the bus?  Or just the universe staying in balance?
    But finally, I left my boots in the hall, put my sleeping bag on the upper bunk (they told me they´re saving the lower bunks for the older women - how could I argue with that?), and headed into Leon.  We had a thunderstorm last night and the air today is absolutely wonderful - sunny, little breeze, not the hot afternoon that we´ve been having this past week.

Plaza Mayor market

    First I walked by the Plaza Mayor where they were having a Saturday market.  There were loads of vendors with fruits, vegetables, garlic, you name it.  Also many apparel vendors: boots hanging up, clothing, tons of underwear, scarves and more.  I wish I could have videotaped the plaza as it was packed with people, lots of sounds, smells, movement.
   Later, as I sat at a square Joyce walked up and we got started talking.  She helped a couple of Canadians find their hostal on the map, then we helped another English speaking person with a question, then we headed down the street.  First stop, Gelato.  Mine was Trufa (even I knew it was truffle) and it was delicious.  We continued to walk, made it to a grocery store and picked up food supplies for the walk tomorrow.  Mostly we just enjoyed walking in this beautiful city with plazas, fountains, trees, parks.  It was lovely.
   It was also interesting to be in a large city on a Saturday.  People were out from about 10AM on this morning... markets in other plazas also, bars and cafes open, people everywhere.  Then about 2PM things started to slow down, shops closed, people disappeared and the siesta time began.  Around 6PM tonight people will start coming out again.

The main road into the old part of town

   I went to the Cathedral for only a short time as it closed at 1PM for a wedding.  But the windows were absolutely incredible.  I think I read there are 125 stained glass windows and I believe it.  In fact there are so many that it has collapse twice, once in the 17th century and once in the 19th.  I will return this evening - I want to drink in the light still more.  I believe the designer did bring a little bit of heaven right into the cathedral and it was such a delight after the darkness of most of the romanesque cathedrals along the way.

    I´m taking today as my sabbath and will go to the pilgrim mass at this monastery at 7PM tonight before dinner.  Tomorrow I must walk.  May your sabbath, however you take it, renew your spirit.  Bueno Camino!

One of the many plazas and fountains

The Big Day

   So today was the day I´ve been awaiting with a little dread - it was a 15.2 mile walk on the original Roman road (which means lots of rocks).  There is no shade along the way, no villages to stop in, no fountains, nothing, just a day of walking.  But I was ready for it.  Last night at dinner we heard the weather report and there was a dwindling possibility of rain - so we all hoped for a cloud covered day.

The Roman road less traveled

 This morning I was walking by about 6:45AM and I could see the moon, but also

a number of clouds in the sky - yeah!  There was a beautiful sunrise thanks to the clouds surrounding the sun.  (picture later, no usb adapter at this computer).  But around 8:00AM I started to notice that there was nothing but rain ahead.  I could see the rain shower directly ahead, but to the left was a very, very dark rain...  I kept my eye on it.  I started thinking about how we see trouble ahead.  Sometimes due to the choices we´ve made (did my easy day yesterday mean I´d be caught in a thunderstorm today).  Sometimes we see trouble and we try to avoid it - but when you have 15 miles to walk, you just keep walking straight towards the rain.  There´s no way I was going to add any miles. 

   Funny thing about trouble, as you continue towards it, sometimes you find it isn´t trouble at all.  I watched as this huge rainstorm continued to move in front of me from west to east.  At one point the sun broke out behind me - ahh, look for a rainbow.  Within a couple of minutes I saw the beginning color taking form.  I continued to watch this live slide show unfold as the color intensified, then changed, then arced downward, and finally there was a small part of a think rainbow with vivid colors.  It continued to show for quite a while.

   

Oh yeah - miles to go!

So I kept walking, very thankful that the sun was covered more often than not.  Finally about 11:30 I came to the turn to start the final walk into Mansillia de los Muela.  I thought I could see the town way in the distance...  My impulsive brain said "yes!  You´re almost there."    My reasonable brain said, "Don´t get too excited, you have miles to go."   So I have my goal in sight, but just had to keep on walking.  I was thinking about vision and goals that we set for ourselves as I walked.  We see where we want to go, but sometimes we give up before we get there -- does it always take longer than we thought it would?   I remember watching a video of the poet David Whyte and he talked about a woman who told him that she knew what she wanted to do in her life, but she took a job that was of only some interest and in the blink of an eye, twenty years had passed.  Yes, we do have to stay on the path towards our goals if we are going to get there.  And sometimes those paths go on a long time.

    I stopped and ate my apple.  Changed my socks for the 4th time (didn´t want to take a chance on my feet on this long day), then thought I´d be heading into town.  But the road went on and on and on.  At 12:45 I finally made it around the bend, only to see that what I´d thought was the town was actually a little suburb and the town was now another couple miles to the left.  The pathway narrowed and was surround by thistles and thorny bushes.  It looked like it had hardly been used (there´s something called a sendra, a gravel path that parallels the highway that apparently most of the pilgrims had used.)  So I plodded on.  Finally I could see the church steeple and after going through the underpass under the hwy and through the medieval gate into town (the last one in Spain if I understand correctly), I arrived.  My goal was reached, but I have to tell you it was not easy today.   Something for me to consider as I look at what my goals might be for my 70th, 80th and 90th decades of life.

      So stay on the path...    Bueno Camino!

Calzadilla de los Hermanillos

   Last night I indulged.  After walking all the way across Sahagun to the monastery I found that they no longer have just "beds" but only single or double rooms.  So for about $30 I got a single room.  When the door was opened I almost cried - it was such a beautiful sight.  Typical of Catholic retreat centers, it was a tiny room with a desk to the left of the door, then a small twin bed on the right under a window that opened to the terrace.  But to the left was a door to a bathroom, almost as large as the room and there was a BATHTUB in it!  I took a nice long bath and my feet greatly enjoyed soaking for a while.
   This morning I did not leave until 7AM as I found that the monastery has outdoors that had a padlock on them until that time.  But I still had a chance to walk in the cool of the night air as the sun was rising behind me.  It was a short day as tomorrow I have a 16 mile walk with no stops in between - it´s all or nothing!   Today I began walking on the Via Romana, an extensive road built by the Romans and still in amazing condition.  I can only imagine the labor that was involved as the heavy rock foundation did not come from this area.

This is Barbara from Germany waiting at the cross in front of the alberque

    Around 10:30 I arrived in Calzadilla de los Hermanillos and since the alberque would not open until 1PM I headed back to the cafe I passed.  I met up with Maria of England who I've met a couple of times recently and we had coffee and a chance to get to know each other better.  After a while Russell, a woman from Australia came by.  She´d been waiting for the bus for an hour and decided to see if the host at the cafe would call her a taxi (they did) so she could head to Mansilla to meet her two friends.  I had met all of them as we crossed in Castilla y Leon last week and we've been passing one another along the way.  But Russell had blisters form that got more and more serious and she had to have a doctor look at them a few days ago.  She´s traveling by bus and will do so to Leon.  She said they are healing and she hopes to walk once more after Leon.
    She told us about this little community after we said we were staying here.  They had stayed here last night and she talked about the lovely meal they were served at the cafe.  And as happens in the villages across Spain in the evening people all came out and she said that a lady took her arm and invited her to see her garden.  She noted that there are parks and little plazas with benches all over the town.  I went exploring this afternoon and she´s right.

The alberque (bed & breakfast) and cafe where I´m using the internet.  Notice the solar panel on the roof.

The quiet streets at siesta time.  Only an American or peregrino would be out this time of day!

This is in a little park and it shows how the Romans built their roads.  The road bed to the right looks like what I walked on this morning.

Other side of the park with aquaduct and the church in the back.

What a lovely place to hang laundry.

The Wind of God and a Celtic Blessing

View from the Camino

 So yesterday morning when I left the alberque their was a very strong wind blowing.  It was about 6:30 and once again I was led by moonlight.  At first I was concerned about the wind.  Last Sunday it had been a difficult walk as I faced a headwind most of the way.
    I thought of one of my favorite introits at church, Blow, Blow, Wind of God (I think that´s the name - it was sung this summer I know).  So I sang that to myself as I walked, with the wind of God surrounding me.

scarecrows in a vineyard

   As I left the little village and entered the Camino path I realized the wind was going to be at my back.  Another song, A Celtic Blessings, has a line in it:"May the wind be always at your back."  Indeed, what a blessings!  With the wind at my back each step was just a little lighter, the slight push helped me on my way.  With the wind at my back I could enjoy its coolness and as the sun rose and the temperature started to rise, the strong wind continued to keep me cool.  Shortly before I reached Sahagun, my destination for the day, the wind started to fade to a small breeze.  But it had helped me to my destination.
    The Meseta is an interesting part of the Camino.  I have found it to be beautiful, but there is something about being able to see long distances that can really mess with my mind.  I saw Sahagun over an hour before I finally reached it.  I sometimes feel like an ant, but I know from watching ants that even they cover a large area because they keep moving.  So I keep moving at whatever pace I can keep.  And I shall remember that God is with me on this pilgrimage, whether the wind blows or not.

The arch is from the ruins of a former monastery in Sahagun

   May the wind be always at your back.  Bueno Camino!

Wow!  I uploaded a picture.  So here´s the Meseta that we continue to walk.  Someone called it a desert, but it´s not really that.  It´s just vast flat land with fields on either side.  There are lots of cereal crops in this area, also sunflowers, and stacks and stacks of hay in the fields.  My boots are covered with white dust.
    I´m amazed at the body´s ability to recover.  Yesterday as I hobbled into the Monastery of Santa Clara I thought I might never walk again, but after a shower and a short rest I walked into town (hobbling at first), and then once again enjoying walking.  Last night I didn´t sleep really well, had a sinus headache and with it are concerns that I might get a sinus infection.  But in spite of that, during the sleep that I did get my body rejuvenated.  This morning my feet were no longer protesting and I was able to walk 12 miles.
   As I left Carrion de los Condes I fell into step with a German gentleman I had met yesterday, Dirk.  We had a great conversation as we walked.  He is from East Germany and told me he was originally with a ballet troupe, but then he was got interested in directing the ballets, went from their into photographs but he wanted the story also.  So now he makes film documentaries.  He was explaining to me that most of the younger generation has left East Germany for West Germany and now there are a majority of older persons.  He made a documentary about this expressing the stories of the older people who miss their families and indeed, miss an entire generation.  They used theater, dance, and put it all together in a film.  His mother was one of the dancers.
    He said he also left for about 20 years.  His home was in a mining area and it was gutted and ugly.  He left and at one point was living in Sydney Australia when his father turned 70.  He realized his parents would not be around for ever and decided to return home and be near them.  So now he has coffee each morning with his father before he heads to work.  He talked quite a bit about the importance of inter-generational contact and that being one of the things he is enjoying about the Camino.  It´s true.  There is Richard from Australia who is 80 and Fabienne from Switzerland who is 19 and everything in between.  Actually I briefly saw a family from France and they had their 16 year old son and 11 year old daughter with them.   Last Sunday I was at mass in Boadilla and just sitting there after church when in walked Leif and Karin, an older couple from Sweden who I had not seen since sharing breakfast with them and then they were off to find a dentist (he had broken off his front tooth).  It was so wonderful to see them as they greeted me with hugs.   Yes, the inter-generational relationships are important.
   Today the computer is about 10 feet from my bed, so I´ll try to upload some more pictures.  May you have a good conversation with someone older or younger than you today.  Bueno Camino!

A long day

   I left Boadillo early this morning, before 6AM so I could walk in the cool air.  I had an added bonus as the full moon had not set and the light from it was enough to guide my walking.  It was lovely. Made it to Fromist and had breakfast and also got to see Katarine just as she was getting on the bus.  Sheś probably in her late 20ś and hurt her knee.  She thought she had pushed too hard earlier on the Camino.  Sheś from Germany and was only staying 10 days anyway, but it was sad to see her boarding the bus.  She´ĺl return to Borgas and stay a couple of days then head back to Germany.
    We had an alternate route along a river which I took.  So glad as it had some shade whereas the main path had none.  It was welcome on the beautiful sunny day.  Up ahead as pilgrims entered the town of Villaveico I could see they were stopping next to a white car.  Sometimes townspeople sell cold drinks so thatś what I was expecting.  Instead, as I approached there was an older gentleman standing there with a basket of small hard candies.  He offered me one and I gladly accepted.
    Then he pulled out a stamp.  We get our credentials stamped at each alberque and also churches and other locations so I thought that was what he wanted.  But instead he took my hand and stamped it as he smiled and spoke to me in Spanish.  I could only say gracias as I knew he had done something special for my spirit.
    On the other side of this small town was a bar located in a tree lined square with tables and chairs and a playground.  A young lady took my order for a nestea which she poured on ice with orange slices in it.  Then she handed me a saucer with four little tiny cookies on it.  Another gift.  That certain helped as I prepared to walk the last 8 km.    But I fizzled with 2 still to go.
   When I reached Carrion de los Condes and saw the monastery of Santa Clara (the poor Clares) I was greatly relieved.  I don´t think I could have taken another step.  I am thankful for the small blessings of this day.
   Just a note - I would love to add pictures but Iḿ usually using the internet in a bar and I have 20 minutes to a euro with others usually waiting.  If I find an alberque with internet I WILL try to get some pictures up.  Someone sent directions - thank you, Kim!  So patience please.  In the meantime, Beuno Camino!

Remembering then continuing onward

   Last night 3 lovely Italians hosted the alberque sponsored by the Confraternity of Italy: the Hospital de San Nicolas in Intero del Castillo.   This small place  was a 13th century chapel converted by the Confraternity - again with no electricity, but thanks to a solar panel there was some hot water.  We heard the bell ring three times and thought it was for dinner.  One of the hosts came out with a short peregrino cape draped over her shoulders.  She beckoned us to come in.
   As we entered we found the 3 hosts in the small chapel on one end and we gathered there each taking our seat.  They then came to each of us, asked out first name, then as one poured water over our foot and the other dried it the third pronounced a pilgrim blessing for us.  It was a profound experience of community in this tiny chapel space.  Ten minutes later we sat down to a simple dinner of spaghetti (with a wonderful spice), the tomatoes, cucmbers and tuna along with spices in olive oil.  Dessert was a real treat of mixed fresh fruits.
   Today I set out after breakfast, dawn was breaking but I did not have to leave so early... I knew I would walk only a short way (just over 6 miles).  But there was a chill in the air as clouds covered the morning sun along with a strong headwind.  It seemed fitting for this 10th anniversary of 9/11.  It was a slow walk, good for remembering that day.  My 9/11 is permanently entwined with my flight to Houston that day.  We went down in Nashville around 9:30 and I traveled by car with a wonderful woman who was lawyer from Houston.  We arrived in Houston about 1:00AM on the 12th...  my mom flinging open the door to give me a big hug and my dad waking up to smile at me and say,"Cathy, you made it."
    During the week I had many conversations with my dad, the last I would have.  The next time I saw him in January he was semi-conscious and could do little more than say my name.  He died on April 11, the 7 month anniversary of 9/11.  So this morning as I walked I remembered my dad with great love and affection.  He and my mom were a good fit - there first date was in Casper WY and it started with him giving my mom $100 and telling her not to give it back to him until the end of the night.  Then he took her to the bars he frequented and did a little gambling.  Mom faithfully held on to the money and did not give it back to him at the end of the evening.  When he called the next day she assured him that she had the money and they saw each other again.  I remember mom saying that her mother was a little skeptical when she said she was going to marry Jim Willis, but mom saw the good in him.   In their marriage dad knew how to make my mom laugh and mom knew how to manage their finances so that their needs were met.
    During one of our convesations that week in Houston my dad noted that he regretted not spending more time with my brother and I as kids.  He worked for Phillips Petroleum and often got home late or had to leave in the middle of the night to take care of problems.  But I remembered him as as the father who spent much of one summer building a stand alone "tree house" for my brother and I (since we had no large trees in our yard) where we loved to play and sometimes sleep.  I remember her making a kite for us during our school lunch break and flying it with us.  I remember our two week vacations taken faithfully every year where he loved to point out to us historical sites, show us new places, and always, we visited relatives and got to spend time with our cousins spread all over.  I assured him I did not feel neglected.  In fact I had thought of him last week when my Camino path was suddenly blocked by a herd of sheep.   My dad took me with him for one work day where we traveled to wells throughout Kansas.  At one point our road was blocked by pigs.  I remember my dad laughing as we waited for all these pigs to pass.  At the end of the day we stopped at a drive-in and I got a root beer float while my dad radioed mom to let her know we were almost home.
     So today I remember my dad, and I remember the many lives lost on 9/11.  I remember the destruction that can be caused by being so rigid with our beliefs we cannot tolerate others.  But I will continue looking for the goodness in all.  I will continue walking with people whose language I do not speak yet we can still walk with one another.  I continue onward with great hope.  With 9/11 terrorists sought to instill fear, but the Camino instills only a sense of community and great safety.  Blessings be with you this day in your own remembering, and may hope be your companion this week.  Bueno Camino!