Day 11 on the Camino Way

Get It Done!

Sometimes you just put your head down and get it done! That was the hike today. It was long and hard and tedious. There were hills to climb and then higher hills to climb. And then came those little irritating flies. It reminded Sally and me of our hike in the Negev in Israel/Palestine. In your eyes and your nose and your mouth and buzzing around your head—man, I wanted to kill them all. But I’m not complaining!

We walked for miles through a wooded area that offered little in the way of views. The road was rocky. By the end of the day, we all had sore feet. And for some reason there were not many others on the road. What we learned is that many pilgrims jump off the trail about this time in the journey. People do a part of the Camino one year and then another the next until they finish. Europeans especially do this as their trip to Spain is not the same as those of us from the United States.

But along the way we picked up Bonnie and the Kite Man—his name is Wyn, and we talked a while with Wisconsin guy—his name is Todd. Bob sat with David, a man from Great Britain, and they talked about life. At dinner with Bonnie we talked about death, about her husband, Larry. How he died. But also how they met, what they had together. At the end of the meal, Bonnie stood up and said, ”You people made my day!” It’s a little thing to make someone’s day, I suppose. Except it’s not, not really—not for me at least, not today. When all you have in mind for an entire day is getting the day done, then the little things add up. And what is in most of our days but little things?

“It Looks Tedious To Me!”

“It looks tedious to me.” This is from an aunt, my mother’s sister. Hi aunt. It is tedious. There’s no denying that. But at the end of the day I’m not wondering what I did today. I know what I did today. I walked 19 1/2 miles, experienced a breeze that felt so good I almost cried. We had a lunch of brown bread with processed cheese and meat and it was delicious. And after we were done I sat on a cheap plastic chair around a cheap plastic table with Sally and our companions and drank the best tasting beer I’ve ever had. And it’s cheap beer at that. We walked by a monument dedicated by the relatives of 300 people murdered during the Spanish civil war in 1936. I thought of JFK, MLK, 9/11 and where I was when those events took place.

4 more miles? Oh boy!

Today I watched toughness as one of our little band had a bad blister and walked through the pain. She did it with grace and grit and dignity and with hardly a murmur—well, actually she murmured a lot. When we discovered that we were not at the end of the day, but had four more miles to go, she laced up her boots, grit her teeth and said—and I quote, ”Let’s get this done!” And she and her sister walked it side by side, and I was so blessed to watch that I tear up as I write this.

Tomorrow Will Be Better

Actually tomorrow—today—WILL BE better, but also bitter. Our three companions on this walk, Bob, Susanne and Leanne will be moving ahead of us to bike the rest of the way. We have one more day with them and we are determined it will be our best day yet. It helps that it’s only a 12-mile day, but I’m counting every mile and cherishing each one as I do. These three have made these first days a joy. We are going to miss them.

They have now become my friends for life—like it or not!