Now that I knew where I would attempting to sleep in a pinch, I roamed the tiny town a bit looking for other alternatives. And yet no matter where I looked – the local tourist bureau, the locked-up tight prior’s house, and a small bevy of closed sanctuaries & local pubs – no offer of […]
And so it was that I returned to the primary hostel, where hospitalero Daniel witnessed my warm & heartfelt farewell to hospitaleras Marie & Ria – both of whom had campaigned hard for Daniel and his boss to make an exception to the rule and allow me to stay the night, and both of whom […]
And so it was that Daniel – the hospitalero who had been quite gruffly against me staying in town at all that night – came to me shortly thereafter and told me that the staff would indeed be making an incredibly rare exception by allowing me to stay the night in the overflow hostel nearby […]
Not having a clock or watch of any kind on this [pilgrimage, I had gotten used to “reading the skies” to tell what time it was – to judging by how light (or dark) it was outside whether or not it was time to rise and re-commence my walking. Well, unbeknownst to me at the […]
I tend to naturally wake early even when not walking a pilgrimage, and this morning was no different from so many others before – rising feeling vibrant & refreshed after only four hours of sleep in my serendipitous 4-star pension-lobby sanctuary. I then proceeded to do what I also do on most similar pilgrimage mornings: […]
After a few peaceful hours of waiting alone in the hostel foyer, other pilgrims began steadily filtering in in anticipation of eating a fine pilgrim’s breakfast before yet another fine day of pilgrim’s walking. I will gladly state that breakfast is by far my favorite meal of the day, and that this is true whether […]
It was simultaneously odd and exciting to part ways with the next-to-last last vestiges of my French Camino compatriots – bidding farewell the night before to Thierry & Celine (first met in Pimbo) and adieu to Jean-Marc this morning after breakfast (his last pilgrimage leg was going to be walking back over the Pyrenees today; […]
And no sooner did I part with friends older than I met friends anew – this time Mack & Jill from Colorado. I only spoke with them but for a few minutes of shared walking, and yet we bonded deeply in those priceless moments of sharing, and there was no doubt that we all three […]
“It is inherently true that everyone has their own unique path through Life. Some of these paths seem simple and direct, while others follow a route more circuitous & convoluted – some are walked through the business of throngs & crowds, while others are walked with almost no human company whatsoever. And yet once we […]
Whenever I am walking a pilgrimage – kind of like whenever I am walking through life itself – I try to “read” new situations before choosing to immerse myself in them. Most of the time it is obviously Right Action to engage the others we encounter, of course, and yet sometimes the “vibe” is strongly […]
“When we cannot tolerate the dark, we activate all kinds of artificial lights, including but not limited to sports, drugs, alcohol, shopping, shallow sex, &/or hours in front of the television set or a computer our phones. Greenspan one correctly noted that there are no dark emotions – just unskillful ways of coping with feelings […]
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