Todays Pics
Everything seemed to become laced with meaning today - and really began last night. So much of today was surreal and much of it felt like a dream, but Im getting ahead of myself...
For most of this journey, believe it or not, I was usually the youngest or one of the youngest people in the groups we met or stayed with along the way - not by much mind you, but generally this was so. Last night, the tables turned - I slept in a Gites with five others -- all of whom I am safely at least double their age. This became the first awareness - much like aging where sometimes I see younger people with a bit of nostalgia or jealousy, these young pilgrims just about to begin their first journey made me long for the naivete of my own such journey and also jealous that I was not going with them - to build new memories and friendships. There is a time you cannot get back, except in memory - and it is passed on sometimes with sadness.
We had a few good laughs and I honored them for the walk and reminded them that they will be walking in the footsteps of millions who have traveled the same road -- seeking solace or answers or forgiveness or wisdom - kings, queens, peasants and all. I also challenged them to step outside of their world and fully engage this adventure - nine years ago when I walked, few people even had cell phones with them - making it easier to truly disconnect from "one's world." But now with wifi in every gites and smart phones on every pilgrim,this is harder to do. I know for me, I wont be so connected on my next adventure. Even today I left technology behind and took my journal only.
My plan for today was to walk to the top of the mountain and return by taxi - as I have a train to catch tomorrow. So we awoke at 7, had a few more laughs - our "ZEN" house lady was a bit far from the zen she proclaimed and got busy to go. I dropped my backpack at the taxi place for keeping during the day - and this too felt symbolic of the weight we carry in life - often symbolized bythe stones we add to our pack. It was so freeing to walk with only a small bag with water and other items. When I entered the street at 7:30, it was crazy alive with activity - most pilgrims beginning today were anxious to get on the road and were a bit chaotic.The mountain was in a foggy haze, so they had little idea visually of what was coming.
Being the seasoned pro, I headed to the cafe for a cappucino and a croissant...and even here I felt the symbolism of the walk as I sat in a cafe on a busy street with cars humming by - knowing in just moments I would "leave the world" behind for a calmer, more reflective walk in nature. Now is where it started getting weird - but in a wonderful way....
When I returned to the main street out of town for pilgrims, just 30 minutes later, there was NO ONE on the street. It is a long street with shops and normally pilgrims are filling steadily out through the day, but there was no one - it was so strange I took a picture. And I began to walk along the camino and still there was no one - it was freaky. I started to get one of those surreal feelings and imagined this might be what passing over to death would be like....taking a familiar journey one loves and seeing images of your past. This was not a scary feeling, but a comforting feeling of transitioning - not a lot different than the feeling of agin, mentioned above.
Even the tendinitus seemed to have its place - as this was the same injury I had on the first camino, that forced me to leave early friends and that I thought was going to stop me from carrying on and then had a miraculous moment on the way that still brings me close to tears. Walking without my bag was a delight and having 6 hours to complete my journey as I had a scheduled rendezvous time, allowed me to stroll through the morning. It was soon misty and foggy throughout and later I began to see pilgrims and stopped several times - once again running into my new young friends of the night before at the one cafe along the way. I am sad I did not take a photo to remember them - they were lovely.As I continued to climb, I knew I was climbing as I stayed warm in the mist, but had no real sense of fatique or height as I began to be shrouded in the mist only seeing 30 feet in front of me and it was like walking in a dream. Its funny I had a deisre to relive my first day and its magnificent views, but there were other plans in store for me - plans that I love.
The last four miles (6km), I walk in this near blinding haze - where I can see little, but I hear the sounds of the mountain. Closer to the end, my glasses started to fog and when I took them off I did not realize how bright it was. It was such an unusual experience - and i kept thinking somehow this is like life - I cannot always see too far ahead but there is simply something I trust to get me there.I see a young swedish man a couple of times and we speak of the walk and its light (the millions coming for answers) and its darkness (the church using the walk to raise money and power through selling forgiveness - the Disneyland of its time). We ran into each other again in the thick fog and laughed about the shared dream we were in.
It was a lovely walk and I arrrived at the top - at a cross where I was supposed to meet the taxi - many things had been left there - it seems I am not the first pilgrim to use this as their exit. I sat down, opened a coke zero, lit a cigarette and my taxi showed up exactly as if on cue. The timing being so exact and the scene being a bit eerie, I actually jokingly asked her if she was an angel sent to take me to heaven. Her reply," Dont worry, Im a safe driver."A lovely Basque girl, Madeleine drove me backwards through my dream - which was a new sensation and by now the fog was lifting and I could see just how high I had climbed and was so little aware of. The views were breathtaking and I took some shots, but these dont do it justice as they were from a moving vehicle.
And so just as my first pilgrimage started with a dream inspired by a book, this one ended with a dream walk. I could not be more happy, and amazed at the wonder of the world. I truly believe the world responds to us - that as we slow down and pay attention and become more intentional, what seems like magic occurs. Jung called it synchronicity...and I am humbled.
THE END!
