Long days of walking!

Finally, back on a computer. It has been hard to find these machines. Anyway, many kilometres later, here I am in Palais de Rei,69.2 kilometres away from Santiago. I have had a heavy week of walking since the last entry, when I was in Foncebadon.

The next day I walked to Ponferrada, 28.6km. After that I have done 22.8, 34, 28.6, 36.2 (yesterday) and finally today 26.1km. I feel pretty good, but I am tired and my foot is starting to communicate more loudly. I hope and wish thatI can manage it well for the last three days and have a good walk into Santiago on Wednesday. I am hopeful.

Yet I have mixed feelings. Again! It is such an amazing thing to be here and have this physically challenging experience along with the inner journey that takes me to places I am not sure I truly understand yet. It is like the Belgian guy I met in Ponferrada said; "The Camino is the only journey I can be on and not feel home sick". It is rich and new every day and I feel the greatness of the experience more and more intensely the closer to the end I get. Thus, my mixed emotions, beacuse I miss my boys and my friends I cannot wait to see them all again.

The day I left Foncebadon I walked to Cruz de Ferro, which is where pilgrims take a moment and leave a token of what we want to let go of in our lives behind. Most pilgrims leave rocks, thus the amazing little hill to climb up to the cross. Some people leave personal items, photos, clothing etc. What striked me was an overwhelming feeling of being part of something so big, of so many people coming there to heal, grow and move forward with their lives.
But also, people come as a token of gratitude, and thus using the Camino to give thanks. A man from Austria, who has lost his vocal cord is walking from Geneva to Santiago after he beat his throat cancer. He was easy to spot as he was always in black and dark, very tanned after all this time walking, and he could only whisper when he talked. I think it takes about three months for that entire journey. This man stood out too because he would have a drink everywhere he stopped, or at least all the times I saw him at a bar. A congnac with his morning coffee was one of his ways to enjoy his life. A stark contrast to most health conscious peregrinos, who focused on their fluid intake and nutrition for the walk.

Anyway, as I stood at the cross and held the rock in my hand, ready to leave another burden behind I felt an overwhelming sense of joy. I have my health, a loving family, friends, freedom and truly a great life to come back to. I committed to let go my fears; of the future and what I may or may not not be able to create. Instead I replaced that fear with hope, faith and love, with love being the greatest of them all. As fear and love are mutually excluse, fear cannot enter where love resides. I have a bracelet that has the charms of hope faith and love on it and after walking down from the cross I put it on, reminding myself of my commitment. I know it is not possible never to feel fear again, but I will not let fear drive me and hold me back. That is my commitment to myself! As I walked on I was joyful and literally skipped along the path. If the terrain had not been so uneven and narrow I would have danced! Talk about contrast from one year ago, when I was freezing cold and barely able to walk in the pouring rain, which led to me stopping in El Acebo and taking a taxi onward. Thus, this year I truly felt the liberation of my past in more ways than one.

This weekś walk was new to me until I reached Sarria yesterday. And yesterday I got the heavy rain, on my longest day of walking on the Camino this year. I was tired and my body was weary from the start so I knew it was going to be a long day. I had stopped in Samos the night before as I wanted to see the monastery, but also because my guide book said it was a beautiful path along the river. And it was! With the rain and the long day I had to dig a little deeper to find that smile and uplifting spirit. By the time I got to Sarria, some 12 kilometres into the walk I was beat! And hungry!!! So I found a bar and ordered an omelette. This one was great, beacuse it was simple, hot and with no potatoes in it. That did the trick and by the time I was walking again it felt like I was starting fresh, actually much better than earlier in the morning. With almost 23km more to go it was to just bear down and WALK! One step after another until the rhytmn again took over and my mind was free. But the rain was unpredictable so I had countless stops to regroup and either put on my raingear, which I had added a garbage bag to, or taking layers off, sweating under the unbreathing plastic. My rain jacket did not do the full trick when the rain was pouring, so the back up plan was implemented. A French biker that had stopped for shelter with me at one point joked and looked at my outfit. "Bambino", he said laughing and pointing at my stomach, which had my pouch under my jacket, lifted up by the belt of my back pack. He was right, I looked like I was six moths pregnant! I laughed and joked with him. It was a funny sight and I was just happy that this "pregnancy" was very short lived!
After 11 hours on the go I finally arrived in Portomarin, tired, damp and hungry. As a result my body shared its exhaustion with me last night as I could feel my legs throbbing. Yet, this is the funny thing about the Camino; this morning I felt way better than yesterday. Go figure! What some good nurturing and sleep can do.With the Torte de Santiago to finish the day I was happy. It is an almond cake that I just love and this was my first chance to eat it on the Camino.
Today, 26.1 kilometres did not seem like a big deal. And here I am in Palais de Rei, three days days from Santiago. WOW!

I have so many more fun stories to share and hope to get more time to write. I don´t know what the future holds but I can only say that I am learning how important it is to seize the moments and opportunities as they come because we never know what the future holds. Someone wise said that his soul is more important than his career. Food for thought... The camino is a place to go deeper and connect more with our soul. It does its work beautifully whether we are aware of it or not. Maybe this is why people are drawn here. I do not know!

There are a couple of quotes in my guide book that reflect these last few days.

"If you want the rainbow, youe got to put up with the rain."
-Dolly Parton

"The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance; the wise man grows it under his feet."
-J.R. Oppenheimer