It was “only” a supposed 8 kilometers from Portmarin to the village of Gonzar (where I thought I might be able to find refuge for the night), and yet the Camino was having none of the same. Maybe it was the heat and maybe it was the fatigue and maybe it was hope and maybe it was the alternate route I seemed to have inadvertently taken, but that was the longest 5 miles I have ever walked in my life! And to make it all that much more challenging, there were very few pilgrims out & about at that time on that particular stretch of The Way – and there were absolutely no rest-stops of any kind to be found there either – and I was pretty darn hungry and had ran out of water to drink (and was starting to get a little dehydrated) … The Camino even played one of its usual “tricks” on me by placing exactly one piece of candy in the path in front of me (obviously dropped by an earlier walker) – tempting me mightily with its blatant deliciousness. I did not waver or succumb, however, and tossed the same aside while trudging on towards Gonzar. When the latter was finally reached, I was able to sit a bit in the shade of a local hostel, and yet no one offered me any solace or sustenance (and I, of course, did not ask for any of either), so onward I trudged into the blazing day …

“It is easy to say we are thankful for the sweet and beautiful things in life: flower gardens, vegan ice cream cones, relaxing weekends, a child’s laughter, comfortable blankets, and the like. The greater challenge – and thus the far greater worth – is recognizing the latent value in life’s dark, sour, uglier moments. For if you look hard enough – and have the wherewithal to make said times not about what you are getting but rather what you can do or give, you will find that it is actually life’s toughest times that engender its most lustrous pearls.” ~ inspired by Richelle E. Goodrich

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