Day 9 on the Camino Way

Miles to Go

The sign post is pointing us to our final destination—Santiago. 581 kilometers which is 361 miles. Today we walked 13 miles so now we are 348 miles from the prize. And what exactly is the prize? What Sally and I set out to do was to walk this together. Finishing isn’t the primary goal—crossing the finish line together is.

Going Marlin’s Pace

Every day all kind of people power by me. And believe it or not, I don’t even care. Sally has to go slower than she could in order to accommodate my need to stay within myself. And it’s okay. We’re getting it done. Each day around the seven or eight mile mark I get pain in my right side. It’s not terrible, just nagging, like a toothache. If I keep a steady but slower pace then I can manage the pain. Sally gets this and she often walks just in front of me going at the pace that she knows I need. When you are hurting it’s easier to follow—I think.

It’s life, really. Isn’t it? There are times when we simply need to accept our weaknesses, our pain, and find a way forward. This is such a good experience, despite the pain. We’ve seen so much, met so many interesting and kind folks. Just a day or so ago, Sally and I were sitting on a bench by the trail, and I say to her, ”We need to find some water soon.” Some guy close to us gets up, walks over, pulls out his water bottle and pours some into my container. No words spoken, just action taken. Moved me, it did!

It’s the Camino Way!

Friends

Today we were passed by six Spanish speaking men, five of them assisting the sixth who is in a hand crank bicycle. It was obvious that he did not have use of his legs. The five others were taking turns pulling and pushing him along the way. (By the way, and this is important, the gentleman in the bicycle was not just being pulled and pushed, he was working every inch of the way. Cranking the handles of that bike, doing his best—that’s pride and grit, and that’s inspiring.)

I asked them if they were family. One of them said, ”No, we are friends.”

“It’s a good thing you are doing,” I say.

”We are the lucky ones,” he responds.

It’s the Camino Way!

Short and Sweet

We started out early this morning so as to beat the heat—90s. Three miles in we stopped at a bar for coffee and a croissant. After one cup of Americano Coffee with milk, I got up to get another. The bar area was full and when one person moved out, I moved in. Next to me was a woman. She was about my age I’d guess, and she was small—short. She was also there before me.

You can guess what happened. The woman taking and making orders looks at me to get what I want. Nodding toward the woman next to me, I say, ”She’s next.” The barkeep moves to her. She orders an orange juice. The woman behind the counter turns to get it. My short bar mate turns to me and says, ”Thank you.” With a smile, I say, ”Well, you’re a woman and you’re short.” She laughed, patted me on the arm and said, ”Two strikes!”

Now, here’s the punch line—she’s not from the States. How does she know about baseball? I say, ”That’s baseball.” She says, ”Yankees!” Amazing.

That’s the Camino Way!