“One’s options in this world are as vast as its ever-shifting horizon, which is technically an orb and thus infinitely extensive. And yet we must remember to choose each step we take with devout attention, for the footprints we leave behind are much more important than the path we choose to follow.” ~ via Lori […]
I easily arrived at Orisson, the same hostel where I had spent my first night on my first Camino back in 2008, and the spirits are high for most if not all my fellow pilgrims there. For those who have not done much long-distance walking, the relatively steep, 5-mile trek up the Pyrenees from St. […]
“We are like waves in every ocean, each with a unique character and quality on the surface, and yet deep down all eternally connected to one another and to the ocean as a whole. And so it is that if you practice looking beyond the surface of appearances, you will begin to see the True […]
“I am a pilgrim, yes, and yet my pilgrimage has been at times wandering and often unmarked. Indeed, no single decision I have ever made has led in a straight line to where I now find myself. There were time when I peeked down some roads and took but a few steps before turning back. […]
Upward and onward I walked into the fog-shrouded mountains; at times walking in peaceful solitude, at times immersed in rediscovering a long-awaited Soulmate in the fellow pilgrims I repeatedly met along The Way … “We would do well to remember that we are each like islands in the sea; separate on the surface while connected […]
And what was the purpose of this odd fence erected around this mountain-top monument? Maybe to keep the local wild horses from knocking it over while giving themselves a scratch? Surely it wasn’t to keep pilgrims from going too near, for anyone even remotely immersed in the intricacies of The Way must surely know that […]
There is something perfect about this day that is more recognizable than the perfection of most other days. Is it the mystical wooded-mountain landscape enveloped in thick fog? Is the temperature of the surrounding skies that almost perfectly matches my own; making it seem as if I am a part of the mist rather than […]
It was at around this time that I saw something that was simultaneously intriguing and heartwarming; a place in the barbed wire fence running alongside the path where a few local sheep had obviously escaped their human-laden captivity … “You have just dined, and however discreetly the animals are kept in their mountainside paddocks or […]
In what we both new was going to be our last day of walking together (Roncevalles was always going to be JM’s last stop), Jean Marc and I easily enjoyed each other’s company today – sometimes walking together and chatting amicably, sometimes walking apart in silence; sometimes walking side by side, sometimes walking with the […]
This adorable couple (Ilene & Peter) were from Ireland, and remain to this day one of the brightest meetings of my entire Walk – and this, despite having only conversed with them but for a few moments on the Trail and a few more the following morning at breakfast … It just goes to show: […]
It took some fluid flowing (and at times a bit of not-so-fluid “doing”), to be sure, and yet I steadily approached and then finally traversed the crest of the Pyrenees … “Quite often both people &/or circumstance will seemingly insist on building barriers high & wide directly in your path, sometimes with the intent of […]
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