Today
Today is Sunday, September 15 or 16, I am not sure. Skipping ahead in the chronology, because it was just a plain old slogging hard day. We left Puente la Reina this morning around 8am, found an ATM because I was totally out of cash, but I did not want to go back into the town last night because our alburge was on top of a MOUNTAIN, and no way was I climbing that hill again just for some money! You really know what´s important on the Way, and what was important was resting and having dinner. I had enough to pay for that, and that was enough.
This was maybe the hardest day yet, even tho I haven´t written about my first adventure, which I thought was the hardest, but today was HOT, and rocky, rocky rocky. There are more rocks in Spain than just about anywhere I have ever been. Not pebbles or stones. ROCKS. All in the middle of the path and all the paths are uphill. Even when they are down hill they are uphill. Here, when there is a hill, they just put a path up over it. No switchbacks, or any wimpy thing like that....just walk over the hill. No matter that you´re climbing at a 50 degree angle...just climb.
So, I slogged. The sweet German ladies left me in the dust, but we had agreed to meet at Lorca, and when I finally got here around 2pm, they had already arranged our room, etc. I just burst into tears right there. I was hot, tired, thirsty, sunburnt, and somewhere I´ve gotten either a lot of bug bites (bedbugs?), hives, or had some kind of reaction to the laundry detergent they use on the sheets or something. Fortunately, they don´t itch very much and I am trying VERY hard not to scratch them. So, I felt pretty much a big mess. BUT, a shower and change of shoes, and then down to the bar for a coffee, where I sat with Rita outside the alburge, having my cafe con leche and listening to Carmen on the CD player. Apparently, the young man at the bar is an opera fan. So, here I am, with German, Canadian, Spanish, and all other kinds of pilgrims, writing this, and I survived the day and got here. And that´s what it´s all about. One day at a time, one foot at a time, one step at a time. It doesn´t matter who passes me or doesn´t, just that I go on.
One way or the other, I´ll get there, but it´s the ¨getting¨ that´s the accomplishment. ¨There¨ has become less important.
Thanks for all the love and support--trust me, I feel it every moment!
Love to all,
Crone
This was maybe the hardest day yet, even tho I haven´t written about my first adventure, which I thought was the hardest, but today was HOT, and rocky, rocky rocky. There are more rocks in Spain than just about anywhere I have ever been. Not pebbles or stones. ROCKS. All in the middle of the path and all the paths are uphill. Even when they are down hill they are uphill. Here, when there is a hill, they just put a path up over it. No switchbacks, or any wimpy thing like that....just walk over the hill. No matter that you´re climbing at a 50 degree angle...just climb.
So, I slogged. The sweet German ladies left me in the dust, but we had agreed to meet at Lorca, and when I finally got here around 2pm, they had already arranged our room, etc. I just burst into tears right there. I was hot, tired, thirsty, sunburnt, and somewhere I´ve gotten either a lot of bug bites (bedbugs?), hives, or had some kind of reaction to the laundry detergent they use on the sheets or something. Fortunately, they don´t itch very much and I am trying VERY hard not to scratch them. So, I felt pretty much a big mess. BUT, a shower and change of shoes, and then down to the bar for a coffee, where I sat with Rita outside the alburge, having my cafe con leche and listening to Carmen on the CD player. Apparently, the young man at the bar is an opera fan. So, here I am, with German, Canadian, Spanish, and all other kinds of pilgrims, writing this, and I survived the day and got here. And that´s what it´s all about. One day at a time, one foot at a time, one step at a time. It doesn´t matter who passes me or doesn´t, just that I go on.
One way or the other, I´ll get there, but it´s the ¨getting¨ that´s the accomplishment. ¨There¨ has become less important.
Thanks for all the love and support--trust me, I feel it every moment!
Love to all,
Crone
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