Kathy on the Camino taken with her cell phone.
Today, my sister, Kathy, reached the first quarter-mark of her pilgrimage in Spain, on her eleventh day of hiking the Camino (Frances) de Santiago. She passed through the Basque lands and is starting into the wine country. The countryside has been gorgeous, and the weather unseasonably nice, for the most part, although quite cold. She is glad for everything she brought. All her research paid off well!
Being the middle of winter, many hostels and cafes are closed. Many of the open hostels do not have heat, so everyone sleeps in all their clothes. Kathy was given a list of open hostels at the beginning of the trip, which has been a god-send for planning each day’s hike. Eating has been a challenge in places, so it’s a good thing SHE is there (with her Power Bars) and not me—I would have starved by this point.
She has sent a series of posts on Facebook almost every day, each post with a fabulous photograph from her smart phone. Aha, her system is working perfectly. She cannot find wi-fi every day, so occasionally we have to wait in suspense, but then receive TWO days of posts, woo hoo. Her photos and her texts are marvelous.
Her adventures have quite an avid following, and I am enjoying the comments and resulting conversations. There are a couple of her friends I have never met but want to meet. Kathy tells us that she appreciates her connection with us, too, so she does not feel so isolated, walking all those miles on her own so far away.
Kathy is so impressed with how well supported the Camino is. The people are friendly,
Camino buddies celebrating Kathy’s birthday at an albergue on the Camino.
helpful, and accepting of language complications. (Kathy can speak some Spanish, but they speak way too fast for her to understand them.) In many places along The Way, clearly great effort and expense has gone into maintaining and improving the route, such as wind breaks planted, benches and fountains built, and historic buildings restored. Many people wish the pilgrims, “Buen Camino!” Kathy got even more greetings than usual from strangers today, and suspects her heavenly guides were extending extra support for her birthday. (Spain is 8 hours ahead of Colorado. She is hiking while we sleep.)
Her pictures show scenic, cultural, and historic highlights. Her texts describe those as well as the variable weather, her hostels, issues, other pilgrims she sees repeatedly at hostels and cafes. She has really enjoyed the many young South Koreans she has met, who have shared stories of their country.
One of MANY amazing “retablos” along the Way.
Sometimes Kathy shares her general thoughts as she walks on and on, often slogging through mud.
One day she was grieving for Dad’s friends, Jim and Bill, when she realized she missed them because they had so enriched Dad’s and her lives. She changed her grieving to celebrating their lives and felt much cheerier.
Another day she caught herself thinking judgmental thoughts of passersby and suffered similar issues—uh-oh. Don’t be so judgmental, she chided herself; such observations are just projected issues of her own! (This is a recurring theme in A Course in Miracles and many other psychological and spiritual references. Kathy and I are working hard to notice and correct these snide thoughts to which we are so prone.)
Periodically, she also thinks deeply loving and grateful thoughts of her friends and family, and is flooded with a sense of receiving and sending love and blessings. (I get similar surges of emotional energy during a “successful” meditation, and they put me in such a fine mood.)
She also receives messages or supportive omens from Mother Nature. (I’ve been having fun with this, too, lately.) With the variety of Spanish landscapes, weather, and scarcity of wildlife many fleeting scenes take on magical interpretations. How can one NOT believe that that brilliant rainbow on an almost dry day is a personal gift?
Kathy says that there is so much joy just in the simplicity of each day revolving around walking, just to walk. Wow, I cannot even imagine that! She has to track down food and do laundry at every opportunity, but mostly, she just walks and looks and endures and enjoys. Congratulations, Kathy. You inspire me.
Happy birthday and BUEN CAMINO!