Day 16h: Caring via Carrots … (04/30/2019)
One of the most important logistical lessons to be learned on any pilgrimage is the simple fact that the strangers you meet along the way are for the most part NOT effective providers of distance or direction. Indeed, the vast majority of the people I met along the way had no idea whatsoever which direction I needed to walk to get where I intended to go, much less how far I needed to walk in order to get there … 🙂 … That having been said, this was only Day 16 of my Great Walk, and as such I was still suffering from the delusion that local folks would be able to provide reliable local information — to wit: Ingrid & Edmund having told me in no uncertain terms that there was a monastery in Mariastein that took pilgrims in and that said monastery was only “16 kilometers up ahead.” Now 16 kilometers is a pretty sizeable hike, to be sure, and yet I was walking well up to that point — easily traversing about 5 kilometers every hour — and thus knew I could easily cover the promised distance in the daylight I had remaining.
Well, I walked and I walked and I walked and I walked for more than a few hours thereafter — seeing no signs mentioning any town named Mariastein, nor encountering any locals who knew anything of the same… 🙁 … Finally, as dusk started to slowly settle upon the day, a passerby pulled out his cell phone, accessed a virtual map of the area, and informed me that Mariastein was indeed up ahead — still 13 more kilometers up ahead ( :O ). At this point it became clear that I would not be able to reach the monastery that evening, and I hobble-limped onward looking for another place where I could lay my now weary head.
After a brief stop in Bottmingen (where I realized that my ankles were starting to swell up quite remarkably) I wobbled onward a few kilometers further to the outskirts of the tiny village of Rheinach, where I stopped at a roadside inn (the “Predigerhof” — literally the “Preacher’s Courtyard”) to ask for some water and inquire where I might bed down for the evening …
Intriguingly, after telling the resident cook (Tobias) about my mission, he — instead of offering me a place to stay the night — told me to sit down and help him and his co-worker de-string some sugar peas. Too tired to even question the pseudo-absurdity of this response to my pilgrimage, I told him I would be delighted to help, and joyfully (though also somewhat achingly) proceeded to do so … 😀
Well, I obviously did well enough with the peas for Tobias to then ask if I would like to help him prep carrots for the next night’s menu as well. Of course I answered in the affirmative (as we Peace Pilgrims are ever wont to do), and he went inside and returned with over 20kg (that’s 45 pounds!) of carrots that needed to be peeled that night … :O … Frankly the situation was so bizarre there was nothing to do but smile and get to work, which is exactly what I did.
A few industrious minutes into the job and Tobias asked if I would like to stay a few days and work for him in his kitchen. I told him again about my pilgrimage and its primary purpose, and thus that I would be walking on either that night or at the latest the following morning. he then hinted that he would find a way to pay me for my work that night, whereupon I told him that I would in no uncertain terms accept any payment whatsoever for my services; that it was an honor to help others in need and that I would not accept even one penny in return for the same. Almost needless to say, Tobias was more than a bit distressed by this news, and ended up doting on me and my steadily swelling ankles quite caringly for the 3+/- hours we worked together that evening — first offering me carrots and a banana and some multi-grain bread, then icing my ankles while we worked, and finally bringing me a sample of the “amazing” ragu sauce he was preparing.
This final gift was clearly non-vegan, of course, and I so gently yet firmly turned down the same, explaining to Tobias that said sauce contained the recently murdered corpses of many of my animal Friends and that as such I could not in any semblance of good conscience eat even the smallest portion of it. Somewhat dismayed (and more than a bit confused), he then brought over a spoonful of his “masterpiece” and tells me that I at the very least needed to smell how delicious it was. Of course, I just as firmly (and just as gently) turned him down again, telling him this time that I was confidant that he could make a similar sauce out of the murdered body of my own dog that was just as delicious, and that I was certain that he could understand how even smelling such a sauce would be cause for great dismay. This latter explanation actually hit home more deeply than I had hoped, and an obviously moved Tobias immediately vowed to go vegan one day a week for the rest of his life — in honor of my Walk, yes, and yet also in honor of my Love for ALL our world’s animals … 🙂 🙂 🙂
“It takes great courage to champion truths unacceptable to our times. There’s always a punishment for it — usually some form of crucifixion. And yet if we are not willing to go to the cross for a Truth – for Justice, for Compassion, for Gentleness, for Love – then our lives are truly not worth living. Indeed, if we are not willing to go to the cross for our Truths, then we are in truth already four parts dead.” ~ inspired by John Steinbeck
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