Day 51g: How to make a Hero … (06/04/2019)

I exited the townhall in St. Christoph sur Dolaizon and the WIND had fully arrived ( :O ) … No matter, of course, as I simply put a smile ion my face and leaned into the same while sauntering onward under mostly sunny skies, eventually arriving at a tiny path-side chapel on the outskirts of […]

Day 51h: Getting wholly unstuck … (06/04/2019)

“Whenever we find ourselves stuck, whenever we find ourselves lost or confused or befuddled by the innate and ever-erupting chaos of the world, we can be sure that the only way to truly free ourselves from the same is to take bold action of some kind. Indeed, action — especially caring action; action taken solely […]

Day 51i: Another pair of Angels … (06/04/2019)

Bolstered no doubt by the amazing connections made back at the Montbonnet chapel, I caught a really good groove for several hours thereafter, flowing smoothly and powerfully along The Way up until about 3pm — when my hip started to freeze up again, which then caused me to begin to limp quite noticeably down the […]

Day 51j: Thankful for it All … (06/04/2019)

Like life itself, sometimes the Path was steep and rocky and unstable; and other times — like today — it was smooth and soft and firm underfoot. And yet no matter what the conditions — no matter how difficult or easy or smooth or stony, I chose over & over & over again to be […]

Day 51k: Inviting my Self IN … (06/04/2019)

It was pretty amusing how my normal long-gaited “Scaughdt tempo” had me flowing smoothly by dozens of fellow pilgrims for the first few hours of the day’s walk, while the afternoon’s onset of frozen hips and heavy limping had me ultimately being one of the very last pilgrims to reach the town of St. Privat […]

Day 51l: What pilgrimage always Provides … (06/04/2019)

As was so often the case whenever I entered a town of any significant size, I headed first & foremost to the local Catholic church (for the simple reason that they were almost always open, while their Evangelical counterparts were almost always closed) to rest a bit in its sanctuary’s cool calm, to offer up […]

Day 51m: Rewriting the Record … (06/04/2019)

As mentioned previously, the people of St. Privat (including more than a few of the fellow pilgrims I encountered that day*) were less than friendly and not all accommodating as I flowed from hostel to hostel to church parish to shop owner, and was repeatedly met with either cool dismissal or outright rejection. There were […]

Day 52a: An early dose of Kindness … (06/05/2019)

I offered a great & special Thank You to the wonderful Marie Laure on this day, as she easily & without hesitation allowed me to eat a hearty hostel breakfast all by myself — well before the dining hall was officially opened to the other pilgrims on hand; thereby allowing me to get a blessedly […]

Day 52b: To rest under the Cross … (06/05/2019)

What had for many hundreds (if not thousands) of years been a walk of renewal and cleansing for untold thousands of pagan pilgrims, the Camino was co-opted by the Catholic Church — with the earliest records of visits paid to Santiago’s shrine to St. James dating from the 9th century. As such, the main Camino […]

Day 52c: Continually touched by Beauty … (06/05/2019)

I’m pretty sure that this beautiful flowering shrub is called French Broom (Cytisus scoparius), and it glowingly graced my presence during this particular section of my Camino (blooming regularly alongside the path from St. Privat all the way to Beduer, some 12 days subsequent) , and I was always grateful for its radiant company … […]

Day 52d: A most untraditional Tradition … (06/05/2019)

I flowed without much difficulty up Up UP along the Path — all the way to the quaint little village of Rochegude, and into its warm little mountainside chapel, which was graced by one of the most warmly beautiful stained glass windows I saw on the entire Walk — a window that chose to replace […]