We always seem to be the last to leave the albergue each day. One would think by this point in our journey we would be a bit more organized but no, not us. We shared breakfast with Soren knowing it would be unlikely that we would see him again as he was moving much faster than us. So fun to see all the different personalities on the camino.
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| Color Crayon Fields |
Outside of Tosantos canola fields painted the hillside, like someone had taken a giant yellow crayon to it. The fields were not in squares but in arcing strips across the hill creating the coloring effect.
A common daily occurrence is the search for a bathroom. Typically this means finding a bar to purchase a refreshment of some sort so you feel justified in using their baño. Today we were beginning get desperate as there was significant distances between villages and even then many of the bars were not yet open for the day. This apparently was a concern shared by other peregrinos because I captured one relieving himself as I took a picture of the church he was near.
Again today we thought we would make it a short/rest day and planned to walk only about seven miles. But when we arrived before noon, we decided to walk the additional eight miles to San Juan de Ortega. This section of the path, devoid of villages, ran through a pine forest with wild heather blooming amongst the trees as well providing a colorful edge to the trail. This heather was quite different from that with which we are familiar as it was about four to six feet tall.
Knowing that we would be walking quite a distance without any place to obtain something to eat, we picked up some sandwiches, carrots and fruit to eat along the way. Many fellow pilgrims chose a spot at the top of a hill where a monument to victims of dictator Franco was placed alongside picnic tables. We chose instead to continue on and find a more "natural" spot to enjoy our lunch. We were glad we did because who did we come upon just finishing their lunch but Steen and Inger. They relinquished their spot to us and we bid them farewell. It was a difficult parting as we are not certain we will see them again. Unfortunately they did not have the time to go all the way to Santiago and would be heading back to Denmark in a few days.
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| Heather |
It was here that I used what some might consider a questionable item, officially called Freshette but what I term a male device. It allows a woman to go to the bathroom like a man - very convenient, especially when there are peregrinos walking by all the time. And here it was especially nice as the woods were thick with blackberry bushes which would have been quite unpleasant without this creative device.
It is not infrequent that the locales set up stands with fruit, juice, water and such asking only a donation for what you take. There was such a stand along this path that was manned by a woman and her young daughter. It was here that they had a sign that provided the title for today's blog - Aqui y ahora vive el camino - Here and now, live the camino. Such a great reminder to live in the moment, in this case on the camino.
Although one tries to look around as we are walking, it can also be imperative to look down as it can keep you from becoming a casualty of the camino. In this case, in addition to safety, looking down provided some interesting views of nature. Now, I have seen many caterpillars in my time but not like these; they were connected end to end in a chain making their way across the road. I really wondered why they were traveling like that and if there was any lesson to be learned from their activity.
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| Caterpillar Chain |
We arrived San Juan de Ortega at a much more reasonable time than we thought. The only albergue there, an old mission, was probably the most austere we have experienced thus far. After checking in and going through our routine of showering and getting organized for the next day (which obviously hasn't help us be any more efficient in the morning), we headed to the bar next door to try and get caught up on our journaling and blogging.
We had a very nice peregrino meal with Jean Robert and Ayala and also met some new people - Jim and Marilyn who are retired Air Force navigator and pilot respectively, Alina from Maine, Julie and Kasha from Poland. Jim provided us with a lesson in humility when he helped the hospitaleros clean up after dinner.
Although I spent quite some time working on my blog today, I am still quite behind. I hope to get caught up on our rest day that we will definitely take when we reach Burgos.
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| Here and Now |
Lesson of the Day: Live in the moment!
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