Maybe I was hungry. Maybe I was tired. Maybe I was just ready to have some space from the 3 musketeers we’d been since the beginning in St Jean.
I just know I felt angry.
The scenery and weather couldn’t have been more glorious. It was a breezy day, with the sun playing between the clouds. We’d stopped at the wine fountain at the Irache monastery which made us grin with the sheer generosity and silliness of it.
Although I didn’t bring a camera on the Camino, several generous friends I met along the way promised to send me some of their best.
I walked with Gary, Scott, and Mattias for about four days and we hung out together in Santiago for two more. We were hell-bent for Santiago to make it to Mass on Sunday, May 26. I couldn’t have done it without their humor, focus, and company. Our longest day (to Monte de Gozo) was 22.5 miles in 10.5 hours! Woohoo!
This week, Gary sent me these grin-inducing images:
This one’s a propos given what I posted yesterday.
Desperado has been one of my heart songs for a long time — probably since college. Since I reached 40, it seems even more poignant.
I only had this song in mind once on the whole Camino. It was mid-morning, the sun was shining warmly on my back and leaving long shadows on the wide, dusty road ahead. I was walking with Muriel, but we weren’t together at that moment. I was enjoying the cool morning breeze, the stately poplars that lined the path, and the newly-plowed fields ready to spring to life.
I had an intention to fill this blog with stories, images, and insights from my journey… and up to mid-July, I was doing fine on this goal.
And then something happened.
I can’t tell you what it is, because I’m not entirely sure myself. But I could feel myself slowly losing the clarity, the groundedness, and the present-awareness I experienced on the Camino.
Jen's Journey - Camino de Santiago 2013, 2016, & 2019 