It was pretty much the middle of the day by the time I walked into Saugues proper, and even though my hips were hurting quite a bit I didn’t intend on staying long there. After briefly & peacefully checking out the local Catholic church (the lovely St. Benilde en Margeride — the sanctuary of which […]
I passed another pathside shrine just outside of town, and someone (probably the same pilgrim as before) had placed yet another small white marble thereupon — a small white marble that is so symbolically indicative of the Soul within us all and the pure unconditional LOVE that resides therein. And so it was that I […]
The Way flattened out nicely after a time, and yet the Camino once again showed her true humor-laced colors when a steady headwind whipped up and turned what was a promising afternoon saunter into an arduous trudge through much thicker air ( 😉 ) … No matter, of course, as trial & tribulation are constant […]
I walked on & one & on this day, and finally reached the tiny village of La Clauze, where I had originally intended to stay the night. And yet before I could search for a place to hunker down and rest my head, I was presented with a far more pressing matter — I really […]
What the village of La Clauze lacked in human hospitality (not only had the high-end Coustette rejected my pleas for assistance, but the local pilgrims hostel and even a handful of local residents had coldly turned me away as well) it more than made up for in logistical support — mostly in the form of […]
Even though my days-of-old refuge provided nothing more than a dirt floor for bedding*, a few old blankets had been left in the corner by the caretaker of this indeed fine establishment; blankets that proved to make not the cleanest mattress in the world, but blankets that did indeed provide a fine-enough night’s sleep nonetheless […]
I will admit that many of my more uncomfortable sleeping arrangements during The Walk ended up being by far my more favored ones — partially due to the after-the-fact feelings of strength and resolve and even accomplishment that always came from weathering the same. And yet my night in the La Clauze refuge turned out […]
Uber-early pre-sunrise mornings like this one were by far my favorite times of Walking … 🙂 “It’s all stories, really. Even the sun coming up every day is a story. Everything’s got a story in it. So whenever you choose to change the story, you are also choosing to change the world.” ~ via Terry […]
“He walked out in the gray morning light and stood silently; seeing fully for that most brief of moments the absolute truth of the world. The cold relentless circling of an intestate earth, surrounded by a darkness implacable. And this darkness scythed by the brilliance of the Sun in its spinning. The freezing black vacuum […]
And so it was that I quickly came to the small village of Le Falzet — a village permanently scarred by the suffocatingly vapor-thick odor wafting up from the 2-3 inches of cow manure that was thickly pasted over the entirety of its small streets … 🙁 🙁 🙁 And as I came into the […]
“In each moment one has a choice to take one of two very different paths: either to plod along and wait for a special day to arrive – or to joyfully celebrate the truth that each & every day is innately and brilliantly special.” ~ via Rasheed Ogunlaru
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