I hobbled onward from the tiny church in Aegerton, first past a woman who was “too busy” watering her plants to give me a similar drink (?!?!?) and then into the woods on my way towards the town of Lyss. My shin-splint was not as painful as my newly acquired hip-flexor strain, and yet both of them together less-than-subtly conspired to have me limping along at a less-than-rapid rate … 😉

As I neared Lyss, I came across a stretch of the path that was smoothly surfaced, and decided to remove my shoes and soothe my aching feet on the pain-free pavement. My bliss didn’t last long, however, as the trail soon turned rocky once more and I suddenly realized that I was simultaneously too inflexible and too injured to either bend over far enough or lift my legs high enough to put my shoes back on … :O

My oh my, how amusing it must have been for the sweet elderly Swiss couple who at that very next moment walked past, glancing with open wonderment at me trying in seeming vain to stand up anew after having slowly fallen to the ground in order to re-don my footwear … 😀 😀 😀

“The Camino teaches the pilgrim to move ever onward; to refuse to remain mired in the past, no matter the pains or difficulties those recent memories provide. Indeed, just like pilgrims, we are all meant to live in the moment, to ever continue to embrace the road of life — with all its bends and all its potholes.  For it is here along the Road’s rougher tributaries that its lessons most potently sustain and strengthen.  It is the Camino’s challenges that offer us a perpetual chance to persist in our walking, just as it is LOVE’s trials & challenges that provide us a never-ending opportunity to Love anew.”  ~ inspired by Joyce Rupp

Filed under: Peace Pilgrimage #02: Walking HOME (2019) by Scaughdt