Pam here updating from Spain...day 4 of my 7th Camino. Where do I start.. a lot of different happenings today so best I try pick a few standouts and summarise. Walked 26 kms from San Xulian to Arzua, the last 15 of which was in pouring rain. The rain made everything feel very refreshing and clean - hey wait, except for the mud....wasnt too sure of that as here on the path the cow dung tends to mix in with the mud, so you never quite sure what you putting your foot in, and trust me I put my foot in it quite a few times. So now for one of my lessons today - never take things for granted, things wont necessary be the same and whilst the change should be good, its not always going to be......in the rain, my wonderful Altus spanish rain poncho, which makes me look like little red riding hood, needed a shake / dry off, and as mentioned my hiking shoes needed a clean / brush off, and most importantly my feet needed to have one of my rituals applied....I have this ritual at every stop / rest to take my shoes and socks off and to re-loob my feet to avoid blisters and sore feet (successfully achieved over thousands of previous camino kilometers!!) - yes, I carry about 4 different types of creams etc,. I also needed a regular toilet break. So after about 10kms in the rain without a break, I come to a (previously) fabulous bar /cafe that Ive been to many times....so I envisaged a super 30 minute break with a delicious cheese boccodilo and cafe con letche, a nice warm up / clean up, foot self-treatment and on with the show...but the experience was somewhat not what I expected - The usual friendly lady was no longer there and I was met by a big scruffy long black bearded man who didnt seem happy that people were coming to support his business. On the camino, a lot of the toilet lights are on a time switch and automatically go off after a shortish period....so picture this - I did not have my glasses on, the toilet light went out shortly after I had taken my seat and it was pitch (and I mean PITCH) dark and I had no idea where the light switch was...ok, use your imagination, I wont go into too much detail. I then get to my table and start taking my shoes off...ok maybe not the best practice, but do remember virtually all people in the bar are also pilgrims, and fully understand and is always allowed to, admittedly usually at the outside tables, but its pouring cats and dogs!!! nope he says no shoes off. I then bite into my boccodilo and find a big long black hair, and my cafe con letche is cold...remember my hair is not black, but the black beard is staring at me when I try complain...so I tried to get it rectified but realized I wasnt going to win...so remember that sometimes things just aint going to be what you expect it to be....try rectify it, but if you cant then just move on!! Only thing about the move on is that for the very first time I have a bit of a sore toe, but it will get delicately wrapped in my German schaafs wol (sheeps wool) and all Im sure will be fine. On continuing I soon met a woman walking alone who co-incidentally looked just like Shirley MacLaine (who incidentally for those that dont know, has also done the Camino and if you havent read her book then do get it...called The Camino, A journey of the spirit, by Shirley MacLaine). The woman I met was diagnosed in February with secondaries in the bone to breast cancer. She had set a goal to walk for her 60th birthday next year but her medical team advised her to do it sooner rather than later!!! what an amazing woman...so inspirational! A few hours later now I can still feel her positive energy around me. So as in life, today had many ups and a few downs...deal with the downs quickly and move on. So my overriding message today is Live in the present, and seize the moment. Yesterday I signed off love, love, love...today I sign off LOVE, LOVE, LOVE xxx
Posted on: Sun, 07 Sep 2014 19:29:34 +0000
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