Reflections on the Camino...

October 2, 2009

Another fun day…ha-ha. Estella, Ega River, Erache, Vaillamayor de Monjardin, Sansol, Torres del Rio, Nuestra Senora del Poio, and Logrono. And I’m not going to elaborate. Enough to say that it is all beautiful. We’ll post the pictures at some point in time. As they say one picture is worth a thousand words, which is good because I don’t want to write a thousand words.

Interesting was a short talk by Nancy, our guide, at the end of the day. The subject came up spontaneously. What is a pilgrimage? What is a spiritual walk? Is there a right way to do it? Does our guided journey qualify as a spiritual one or is it too decadent when compared to a true pilgrim who walks the entire way with all his belonging on his back, one who suffers way more than we. Since we have done the henro michi on Shikoku, Emi and I understand suffering, and we are certainly not suffering like the walk on Shikoku. But Nancy said that there is no one way to do a spiritual quest. She has seen participants on her trip find their spiritual meaning and she has seen people completing the Camino de Santiago unchanged in their heart and soul. It was good to hear. There is still hope for me, that I will find my salvation and find the peace that I always long for. Of course, I don’t think that I needed to come to Spain to find inner peace, but it’s sure been fun in the search here in Spain.

I have been toying with the idea of jogging through the streets, paths, and roads of Spain. This would be quite an event for me, since I have given up running for a number of years. It was either give up running or become an invalid, and I chose to continue to be able bodied, but the thought of running here was just too compelling so this morning I got up early, put on my shorts and running shoes and walked down three flights to the front door of the hotel only to discover it locked. The key was in the lock, but there was a sign, in Spanish of course, talking about “Opening….” And the rest I didn’t understand. Since there was no on up or around, I couldn’t ask for a translation. Thinking twice I walked back upstairs and went back to bed. I’ll try again tomorrow.