I can’t even begin to tell you how nice it was to sleep in a real bed with a real mattress, real sheets, a real pillowcase and a real blanket in a room all by myself, and Abe and St. Christopher of course. I don’t fit in most bunk beds and in most of the alburgues the mattresses on the bunk beds are way beyond shot. I got a good night’s sleep last night and for that I am very grateful. The Camino does indeed provide.
I am also so very grateful for the opportunity I have been given to make this journey and walk the Way. I have not arrived in Santiago yet but this seems like a good time to reflect on the journey so far.
For me, one of the highlights of my journey was the time I spent in the church at Zabaldika. I have never felt God’s presence like I did in that church. When I was there the nun who was at the church handed me a card with the following description of the Camino. It meant so much to me then and all along my Way that I would like to share it with you.
“The journey makes you a Pilgrim. Because the Way to Santiago is not just a path to be walked in order to get somewhere, nor is it a test to earn some reward. El Camino de Santiago is a parable and a reality at the same time, because it is done both within and outside the specific time frame that it takes you to walk each stage, and along your entire life, if only you allow the Camino to inhabit you and transform you into a pilgrim. The Camino forces you to fully experience a simple life with only the clothes you are wearing and the essentials in your backpack. A simple life and a lite pack help you understand how little you need to be truly alive and truly happy. The Camino gives you an opportunity to find and develop a generous heart. Whatever you have you must be ready to share because, even if you started on your own, you will need companions to help you complete your journey. The Camino is a community of pilgrims from all over the world. This Camino community cares for each other and takes a genuine interest in how each and every member of the community is doing along the Way. The Camino makes physical demands on you. You must get up before the sun rises in spite of tiredness or blisters. You must walk in the darkness and cold before dawn, with the moon and stars as your companions and lighting your Way. You must walk in the heat of the day with the blistering sun relentlessly beating down on you, kilometer after kilometer. However, if you walk with an open heart and a contemplative soul the Way will help you, almost force you, to be constantly amazed by your new life, to welcome each and every new day with a sense of joy and gratitude, to interiorize, to be quiet and enjoy the silence, to really listen to and understand others, to admire God’s natural world and to understand what a blessing it is, and to be grateful for the company of your companions along the Way.”
On the culinary front, I must report that I had pulpo for the first time last night.
Pulpo is grilled octopus 🐙. It is a Galician delicacy and I found it to be a bit chewy, but very tasty.
We got up and started walking at about 7:45 AM. It was pitch black and the fog was so thick you could have cut it with a knife. Up ahead of us I saw four guys walking with high powered headlamps. I left my headlamp at home to save weight in my pack. That was probably a mistake. I ran ahead to catch up with these guys and started to walk directly behind them so that I could use the light of their headlamps to illuminate the trail ahead of me and avoid any slipping, tripping or stumbling hazards. They all realized what I was doing and the guy to my left turned his headlamp to his right to illuminate my path and the guy in front of me put his headlamp on backwards to illuminate my path. These random acts of kindness on the Camino bring on tears of gratitude for the generosity of my fellow Pilgrims and gratitude for the opportunity God has given me to experience the Camino and learn from this experience.
When the sun finally peeked over the horizon and made a weak effort to cut through the fog, there was enough light to see the path without the headlamps. These four young men stopped to turn off and pack their headlamps. I thanked them profusely and wished them Buen Camino. Abe thanked them and told them I was a putz for leaving my headlamp at home and expecting other Pilgrims to light my Way. They agreed that I was a putz but commented that it takes all kinds to make a Camino. Abe gave each one of these four guys a penny to commemorate their walk on the Camino with the Greatest President There Ever Was Or Ever Will Be and said that I would get their mailing addresses so he could send them an autographed picture when we get back to the good old USA 🇺🇸. They insisted that the autographed picture was not necessary and they went on their Way.
This is our 9.:30 AM breakfast stop.
I had a full, stick to your ribs, All American breakfast.
This is the fog that we walked through all morning.
Now that we are in Galicia we are seeing a number of these grape arbors. The next three pictures are for Jim and Susie, the only people I know who have a grape arbor.
This guy was husking corn 🌽 and feeding it to a calf.
I call this shot Cornhusker on the Camino.
Get a load of the hat on the calf. What a hoot.
This is a shot of the trail.
They are making ristas in Galicia.
The beautiful hydrangeas are still in bloom.
We stopped at this church and said a prayer for Anna.
This sign makes it very clear that the house is protected by a vicious guard dog that will rip out your throat if you even think about coming onto the property.
This is the pack of vicious attack dogs guarding the Cornhusker’s home. To be fair to the dogs it was siesta time when I took this picture and nobody does anything in Spain during siesta other than sleep.
This is my sleeping pod at the alburgue in Palas de Rei. It seems to be pretty comfortable.
I hope everyone had a great Thursday.
Good evening from Palas de Rei, Spain.
AbeAndMarkontheCamino 