A Pilgrim's Feast

As I walk into the pink shades of day break in the quietness of the early morning I search for the signs that mark the way. 

My thoughts wonder to the previous night where four of us shared a pilgrim's meal.  We had arrived at different times and each had, on his own, bought enough for a meal.  

When I walked through the little shop earlier in the day, the owner told me proudly that he makes the wine himself from his own vineyard.  And that the wine is good.  The bottles have no labels. The half bread I asked for is put on the counter, just like that, and after I paid,  it goes into the bag with the rest of my shopping.

In the evening, when we put all that we had bought on the table, it is a feast.  Introductions are on a first name basis and country of origin.  Titles and positions are of no consequence. We discuss the important things in life:  family, faith, and the reasons for doing the Camino.  We are just all pilgrims on the way.

As I pass the yellow fields of sunflowers ready for the harvest, my thoughts wonder home and I say a prayer for my loved ones. 

Later on, the fields of vegetables are being irrigated and I suddenly remember my early carefree childhood days where I would run under the sprinklers on the sugar cane farm and where the captain, Maputera, would cut the sweet cane for me to eat.  Happy days. 

A fellow pilgrim reminded me that the Tswanas say that one must sometimes stop so that your spirit can catch up.  I think this is what happens on the Camino.

I have walked through the Basque country and the provinces of Navarra, La Rioja and have just crossed into Castilla y Leon.  The second phase is approaching.  

The Spaniards say that the first phase is the physical one, where your body gets used to the walk and the load; the second phase is through the flat plains where little changes in the landscape and where you have to be mentally strong; and the third phase is when you enter Galicia, where your body and spirit are one and a rebirth takes place.

For now, I will live in the moment of every day, and take each day as it comes for that is enough.

And yes, the wine was good indeed!

Buen Camino!  

Jovita

25 September 2013