Day 20 on the Camino Way

Sally and Seabiscuit

On one of our training walks we stopped at Big Apple for a coffee and bagel. We had our hiking gear—poles, backpacks, hiking shoes, hats. Sitting near us was an elderly couple and their daughter. The daughter asks us what we were training for. We told her. Then she looks at Sally and says, ”Are you going to be able to keep up with him?”

I almost choked on my bagel. But this is what many women hear and often from other women. Trust me, it’s me who has to work to keep up. Sally slows to my pace. She reminds me of Seabiscuit—underestimated until she kicks your butt.

Moving Toward the Mountains

You can see what’s coming—mountains. This is such a welcome sight to us. You cannot imagine! Well, then again, maybe you can. Have you ever been in a rut? Or maybe you’ve had a bad patch, a period of time when nothing pulled you out of bed in the morning except routine. You got up because you had to.

Sally and I have just walked for 5 days through what felt like a desert. All you saw ahead of you was the horizon, and in every direction around you it was flat and stretched out for what seemed like forever. It’s called the Meseta and it means flat. We are so glad we chose not to skip this portion of the trip. It was important to walk those days. It is part of the journey. And it’s life, isn’t it?

But these last two days we’ve had renewed energy as the terrain has become more varied, and then today, the mountains. When they appeared we just stood still for several minutes and silently took them in. ”That is where we are going,” I said. ”It’s beautiful,” she said.

My Gift

This journey has made me indescribable grateful that I have someone like this person to walk with through life. And I’m also grateful that we’ve always managed to find something to walk toward. Have we had desert times in our married life and in our journey together? Of course, we have. But we’ve always managed to keep moving forward until we could see something ahead to move toward. If that makes sense.

Soon we’ll be announcing to you a new venture that we are undertaking with our son, Joshua. It’s something we believe in, something out there, something risky and worthy. It’s mountains we see ahead, big and a bit scary, but mountains. Who doesn’t want to see mountains?

I hope each of you will find the strength to keep moving, and the courage to lift your head to see beyond the often tedious days of our lives. If you are in the Meseta, please be assured that many of us know exactly how that feels. You can move through, and you must, because you deserve mountains as your sightline. You really do!

Buen Camino!