Day 17 on the Camino Way

Walking Dead

The first time we walked past a field of sunflowers was several days back. At the time, Sally said, ”It looks like an army of the walking dead.” As I think back on that day now, I realize how accurate that statement is. What we’ve seen is thousands of acres of sunflower plants that are completely dried out—dead!

Almost but not Yet

One of the books we read on the Camino said that there would come a day when you would find yourself weeping and not know why. For me, that day was almost today. At one point I stood and took four photos of shots from around me. The landscape was flat and seemed so dry that I used the word desolate even though most of the land produces grain used for bread and feed.

We have been walking through this part of the country for five days now and covered 63 miles of the 111 miles that lead us into Leon and out of the Meseta—the Spanish word for this region. Of course, Meseta means flat. We have 48 miles to go and 4 days in which to do those miles. And we’ll do it. Tomorrow we have 14 miles to cover. We’re going to get an early start—on the trail by 7, so that we can beat the heat and the flies. Sounds like a plan.

The Four Photos

Tiring, tedious, but beautiful too. And what we find is that as we trudge along we talk some and it’s good stuff we talk about. We are quiet together, each in our on worlds. And this morning we walked for two miles with Gabby and Juan from Arizona. Gabby is a yoga instructor, former Crossfit person. Juan was 15 years in the military and spent the last 23 years as a border patrol person. They are fit!

Gabby and Juan are interesting people. They have a ton of energy and love to talk. The two miles went by fast and I learned a few things about the realities on the ground on our southern border.

When we reached the little town we are staying in, we met the Danes at a bar just on the edge of town. They are a clan of father-in-law, son-in-law, future son-in-law, and two friends. I don’t know how to describe them. After sharing a beer with them, they told us they were going to sleep all afternoon because all they’d been doing is drinking and walking. ”We’re Vikings. It’s what we do.”

Then there’s a couple from Minnesota and another from Seattle and yet another from Arizona and there’s David from the UK and a gal from Argentina—all of these cross our path every day. And in the evening we gather for dinner and conversation and laughter. There’s Stacia who is our favorite, but I like them all.

Community is Key

It’s people wanting to interact—needing to connect. It’s wonderful. I wonder if the reason this happens so quickly is because we don’t have to invest much of ourselves into each other. We’ll be together for a little while and then go our separate ways. I doubt very much whether we’ll stay in contact with any of these folks.

Whatever makes this work, it does.

Buen Camino!