Pay Attention

The Camino lends to an interesting lifestyle that I grow more accustomed to each day.  Each day in a lot of ways is completely new and full of surprises.  And yet each day in a lot of ways has become quite routine.  I wake with the sounds of my fellow pilgrims, pack, eat, and walk.  When I arrive to a new place, I find a place to stay, shower, do laundry, rest, eat/explore/mass, and sleep.  

One constant each day is the time I have to reflect, to ponder, and to discover.  I cherish this time, solitude, the conversations, and quiet.  Unfortunately at the end of most days I'm too tired to turn my random musings into more organized reflection.

I did have an interesting encounter that I have pondered many times on Camino.  On Friday my dad and I climbed to the top of O Cebreiro and continued down to stay in a small (and by small I mean two albergues and two bars and one house....nothing else in sight) town Alto Poio.  As we were heading down from the summit O Cebreiro we were feeling awesome!  The climb up was more beautiful and achievable than we thought.  It was day 3 of walking and we had completed what we'd heard was the hardest part.  Things were still new and we are constantly in awe of the beauty. We were discovering a routine of walking and following arrows.  Onward, move the journey forward, we can do this.

The Camino is so wonderfully filled with signs to keep the pilgrim moving forward.  The path is full of seashells and arrows guiding you, beckoning you forward in your journey.  As is often the cAse when I hike, I get lost in my thoughts and day dreams and the beauty of the natural world that I miss or worry that I've missed an important trail marker.  So as we headed down we saw a path and we saw an arrow pointing down and without second glance we followed our arrow.  We were feeling great, conversation was flowing and we were on the path. 

A little way into the walk, I began to worry that we hadnt seen a comforting arrow in awhile and that we were the only people walking on a busy highway.....  And so went our walk.  It would be quiet for awhile and then one of us would question if we were on the path.  The other person would then reassure that we had followed the arrow.  

This continued on for a disconcerting amount of time and I knew we had missed the trail.  There weren't signs, we were on a highway on the side of a mountain with no where to go or to ask for help.  We had two options: continue onwards and hope to reconnect or to go back up the mountain and try again (yeah right!). 

So we continued onward.  It was then that I began to notice the many tiny butterflies along our route. Now there are many, many butterflies along the Camino (happy dance) but there appeared to be more here.  As many of you know, I am often attracted to butterflies as signs and hope.  So I immediately recognized them as a comforting sign that God was indeed with us and pushing us onward.  Eventually we arrived at a statue and saw the path we were supposed to be on.  We realized at we somehow ended up on the bikers path and were able to rejoin the walkers path that led through more beautiful mountains.  

As we continued on the "right" path, I pondered more what had just happened.  My dad and I talked about it as well.  "But how did we miss the arrow?"  "We were paying attention."  "Where was the arrow?"  These thoughts occupied our conversations and thoughts.  the trails are so well marked and we were paying attention, so how did we miss it?  But that's just it.  Sometimes the "right" path can be right there and yet invisible.  How easy it can be to miss a sign, a call, a voice, a direction.  And we're all going to miss many in our life!  So then I thought more about those butterflies.  Because even though I didn't take the intended route, God was still there guiding me, leading me, and pushing me onward.  

And in the end we got to our destination.  So did it matter how?  I don't think it matters how.  Push onward, be in the present, turn to God.  "Right" path or not I'll try to look for the small ways He's guiding me forward and leading me closer to Him.  And of course, I'll try to pay attention. 

The Journey

There's a popular quote, "It's not about the destination, its about the journey."  I think that statement almost always rings true for me when traveling as I often face the biggest hurdles before I even arrive at my intended locations.  The start of the Camino was no different, in fact two days late different.  Being on day 2 of walking, I am not about to imply that the airport fiasco was and will be th ingest hurdle, but it certainly but new meaning and simple joy into that.  As I walked today and felt my 3 blisters I thought, but I'm here and at one point that never seemed possible.

The first three days have been days of such beauty!  Arriving in Ponferrada brought out such intense joy to be able to wander and enjoy such a city!  I'm so glad we began in Ponferrada because we arrived on time and there were so many treasures to uncover in that town that we could finally feel like everything was clicking on our trip.  There were lots of bikers and a beautiful bike mural outside our hotel balcony. There was a medieval castle to explore. There were tapas to be had.  And the best part...pilgrims  mass.  We wanted to see the Basilica de la Virgen de la Encina.  When we went to visit I read that there would be mass at 8. When we returned the church had a handful of spainards present and us. It was my dads first time at a mass in another language, which was a great experience!  The mass was relatively quick, no homily, but at the end the priest called all pilgrims forward.  He then blessed us, sprinkled holy water on us, and gave us a prayer card to, as he said remember and pray for their community as they would remember and pray for us. How beautiful.  Just the start we needed and wanted for our pilgrimage.   To receive the Lord's presence at mass, to have our first encounter with pilgrim hospitality, and to go forth connected and prayed for, was more than I could hope for.

I definitely channeled that strong presence, motivation, and community feel as we entered walk day 1.  As we left Ponferrada, we moved at a moderate, excited pace through various small towns and stopped at every small church we could along the way for 8 km.  The second 8 wound grouch beautiful vineyards and countryside. What peace I felt to be moving among the vineyards, watching the stretch out with the mountains in sight. The last 8 km were rough.  It was very hot, there were some uphills and some more boring segments along a highway.  So we arrived to Villafranca Del Bierzo, hot, wiped and ready to relax.

Day 2 then begins feeling sore and with 3 blisters on my feet.  My pace is no longer as excited or quick. As I meet more pilgrims, I am learning to embrace the journey more and more.  The first day felt like such excitement to find our first albergue and experience everything.  The second day became more realistic.  I go at the pace I need to, how far I need to, no worries.   That's fine by me...hope for dad too :).  We only walked about 18 km today to arrive early, relax more and rest up before climbing mostly uphill tomorrow.  As for now, I'm just remembering how much I love journeys.

Also, I don't know how to add photos via iPad, if anybody does let me know!