And so it was that Stephane & I finally arrived at the town of Zubiri, where Stephane treated me to a meal of my four favorite pilgrimage foods (fresh bread, bananas, dark/vegan chocolate, and coffee) and then bid me a truly heartfelt farewell as he checked into his pilgrimage’s final hostel (which happened to be the very same hostel where I had spent the night here on my first Camino Walk back in 2008) and I somewhat solemnly continued along my own different-yet-similar Way …

“The Suns shines brightly on this day and I wander these streets like a ritual I don’t dare to break for – my dear departing friend — the times are truly quite glorious. And so it is that I leave you by the water’s edge, still waving in my heart long after my ship sails onward. In truth, there’s a place by the side of the railway near a lake where I grew up where I used to go to bury things and start anew. I was younger then and had not lost many people, and yet I hid things inside me then that I never dared to show and in silence tried to eliminate. Leaving the sins of regret & sadness clinging to my conscience and scrubbing their tears off with salt, I built my parting rituals in hollow goodbyes; endings my ego still clings to – farewells my Soul rightly cherishes. And yet I am older and at least a tiny bit wiser now – and so it is that I now say adieu to you with love instead of longing; cleanly with gratitude instead of sticky with selfishness.” ~ inspired by Charlotte Eriksson

“‘Farewell,’ they cried, ‘Wherever you fare till your eyries receive you at the journey’s end!’ for that is the peoper thing to say among eagles. ‘May the wind under your wings bear you easily wherever the sun sails and to wherever the moon walks,’ answered Gandalf, who knew the correct reply.” ~ via J.R.R. Tolkien

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