Leaving Markers A few days ago on Facebook I said, “One of the things I will miss when I get home will be the Camino markers. How am I supposed to navigate the world without these markers?” To which my friend Randy replied, “Perhaps ‘tis your lot to be one who...
Camino – Day 24 I woke up early. The combination of massive snoring in the dorm and a mattress with inadequate padding over the springs, added to my normal proclivity to wake up early, resulted in a very early morning. The gift hidden in that situation,...
Camino – Day 23 I began the day in the beautiful heart of the city of Leon, pausing for a moment in the pre-dawn darkness, with Venus shining bright in the eastern sky, to admire the majestic cathedral one final time. And then I set out once more following...
Camino – Day 22 I am now in week three of this pilgrimage journey, and I’m a couple of days away from crossing the 500km mark. Today was my shortest day yet (12km), due to the downstream spacing of available accommodations. Tomorrow I should be back on track...
Camino – Day 21 I have now been walking the Camino for three weeks. In that time I have walked about 450km. It was a 26km/5 hour day, and my legs and feet are feeling a bit tired. Long stretches of open agricultural land, with only a few villages. The Camino...
Camino – Day 20 After a rest day yesterday I set off early this morning with Venus still shining bright in the eastern sky. Leaving Sahagun I crossed an ancient stone bridge and headed west on the Camino, which ran relatively straight for most of the morning....
Camino – Day 19 – a rest day I am taking today as a rest day. It feels both luxurious and a bit odd. I laid in my bunk while everyone else in the room was packing up and getting ready for a day of walking. I still had to be out of the albergue by 8:30,...
Sometimes as I walk a phrase will tickle my brain, inviting me to play with it, perhaps turning it into a haiku or a bit of poetry. For several days now, off and on, the phrase “walking into my life” has been showing up. It has a nice poetic feel about it, but...
The Camino de Santiago is an ancient pilgrimage that pilgrims have been walking for hundreds and hundreds of years. And from the time I started planning this trip right up until very recently I have been uncertain about how to describe what I’m doing here....
Camino – Day 18 It has been a lovely 22km day, over rolling hills through agriculture fields. I landed in the city of Sahagun, at the Albergue de peregrinos de La Santa Cruz. Sahagun is a larger city, but still small (a population of about 3,000). The...