4/27 The Rhythm of Walking

Today's walk started at the west end of Puenta la Reina and ended at the west end of Estrella...about 22 kilometers.  The Albergue Apostle, just outside of Puenta la Reina is up a quarter-mile steep hill, which made for a stunning sunrise as we left at 6:30 this morning.

The Camino once again wound through farmland and small towns.  At the small town of Cirauqui, I stopped for a coffee and croissant...wait...make it one of those chocolate croissants.  I think the bakery truck had just made his delivery...that croissant was warm and literally melted in my mouth.  I met Helmut, a tall, fit German in his 50s from Stuttgart.  He is friendly and has a great smile.

There is a rhythm to this walk...a time to take in food and drink, a time to rest, a time to pace yourself.  It reminds me of the other cycles and rhythms in our lives...sunrise, sunset..spring, summer, fall and winter...birth, growth, reproduction, death.

Way back when I stayed at Roncesvalles, I arrived around 12:30 pm.  There were only a handful of us there, waiting for the Albergue to open at 2.  One fellow who was there before me was in his 20s, a friendly, easy going young man.  I watched him as more and more people arrived, crowding into the foyer, standing in front of the doors.  When it came time for the Albergue to open its doors, he moved to the end of the line that had now formed.  He was probably the third to arrive but was now 30th in line.  Hardly fair, and yet he seemed to pay it no mind, no complaining, no demanding, as if he knew a deeper truth that he would be just fine.  Which he was.  I was impressed by him.  And then this morning, as I got up in the dark and tried to be very quiet so as not to wake anyone, I lost my sterling shell earrings.  When Francine walked up to the bar where I was having that great croissant, I told her about the earrings.  She told me she had left her cup...a keepsake from when she had visited her daughter.  "Maybe it will totally make someone's day to find my cup...they will be so happy."  And I thought of the fellow at Roncesvalles and how perspective changes everything.

I went into the cool, dimly lit church at Villatuerta and just sat in the pew and closed my eyes.  The other night, as we were getting to know each other around the dinner table, the question, "What is your favorite song?" came up.  Francine said she didn't think she could answer...there were so many...and she sings a lot of them throughout the day.  (I have heard her singing today's song.)  Polly's favorite is the Beatle's "Blackbird"...a great song.  And mine is Aaron Copland's "Appalachian Spring".  Well today, when I was sitting in that church, the music that was playing was Simple Things...one of the movements in Appalachian Spring.  And three pews back, Francine was listening to the same music and becoming very emotional.  She said it moved her.

Tomorrow we will be walking to Sansol, a little town west of Los Arcos.  The high temps are supposed to remain in the 80s.  Which means doing laundry is not an option.