There were several special places I re-encountered along the Spanish portion of this current Camino – places where great peace was known or great beauty was witnessed or great Kindness was received. And this particular spot – a small park alongside The Way as it made its way through downtown Leon – recalled a moment […]
I only had two goals in Leon (if they could be called the same): 01) see the sunbeams stream once more through the glorious stained-glass windows of the Leon Cathedral and 02) find the wonderful donativo refuge that had taken me in so graciously back in 2008. And seeing as how it was still quite […]
Though I wasn’t feeling very inspired to wait until the cathedral opened, I did take the time to walk its perimeter and marvel over its resplendent architecture … “A beautiful building is one upon which the eye alights and stays lit.” ~ via Ezra Pound “The greatest products of architecture are less the works of […]
I had just given up looking for the donativo hostel where I had been offered refuge back in 2008 when I came across an open doorway that looked strikingly familiar – a doorway that happened indeed to open onto the gutted remnants of that same albergue. And yet now there was nothing left of the […]
I could feel that it was very close to time for me to depart – very close to the Right Time to get back out onto the Right Road, and yet I felt just as compelled to take a brief stroll through the vaulted halls surrounding the cathedral’s main courtyard … “I have known many […]
I was feeling quite tired this morning for whatever reason (maybe the afore-written “Lethargy of Leon” that seems to afflict so many pilgrims here) so I stopped in a quiet little wayside park to drink some water and rest – reminding myself as I did so that it matters not how I am treated on […]
I was still feeling really “out of it” when I came to the austere-yet-lovely Ermita de Santiago Apostol; a delightful wayside church where I rested awhile – acquiring a measure of peace from its cool confines, and a renewed dose of inspiration from the intentional sacrifice of Jesus Christ; a sacrifice that was given far […]
Shortly after leaving the tiny Ermita, I was trudging slowly through the westernmost outskirts of Leon when I came across what was first assumed to be a mirage – a hand-painted sign that read “Humanitarian Aid Station.” And yet sure enough, just a few yards up the path there was a tent by the wayside […]
Shortly thereafter I arrived in the city-suburb of La Virgen del Camino (on Leon’s westernmost outskirts) and reveled in the solaced solitude of the Basilica el Virgen de Camino – remarking how much more appealing its odd architecture and internal dressings were this time around, compared to my more harried & hurried stopover there in […]
I did not walk very far out of town when I glanced to my left and was stunned to see a fruit-laden donativo stand by the side of The Way. I gratefully ate an apple and a few crackers and reveled in a small instant coffee before sitting down to make a love-laden Peace Stone […]
“And what is it to truly LIVE? It is to weave the cloth with threads drawn from your own heart, even as if your dearest beloved were to wear the same. And it is to build a house with the greatest affection & dedication, even as if your dearest beloved were to dwell in the […]
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