The Guest House – Jellaludin Rumi
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice.
meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.
Be grateful for whatever comes.
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
This is my favorite poem by Rumi and it’s perfect for today’s bizarre but ultimately amazing day. I think I experienced every emotion in the book. What Dora said just might be true. I’m the line between genius and crazy. Whoa.
The first order of business today was to find a laundromat so we could dry our wet clothes. Otherwise, we would all be wearing our ponchos tonight. Stephen’s only covers his backpack and that is a sight none of us want to see. The next town, Luarca, was 6km. We started hiking on a huge, muddy mountain (straight up) and our packs were extra heavy because of the excess water weight from the laundry. I almost fell. Twice. Luarca was a harbor town that did not disappoint. It was stunning with all the boats and the buildings stair stepping up the hill. We found the laundromat and a fantastic café next door. We had plenty of time to hangout here. I even had time to send a postcard to my dad. Heyekyung, Dora and Stephen all ordered food at the café. Not realizing what they ordered, the waitresses brought out HUGE sandwiches and then they started clapping. Ha! It was an EAT TO DIE moment.
Stephen forgot his towel on his bunk at the hostel. Dora to the rescue. She noticed it as she was leaving. She is a superhero.
The morning part of the walk was lots of fun. It made me realize that this section has always been my favorite part of the Camino. We have about 200km remaining which is about 10 days of walking. At this point most everyone (including me) has physically, mentally and emotionally worked through most of the garbage they came here to process. People are more relaxed and comfortable. We’ve become aware that we are on the back nine and can actually finish this thing. There is a sense of ease and flow as we walk, talk, eat and relax at the hostels. The laughter is more frequent than the tears, frustration and serious discussions. It’s party time and I love a good, fun party. To paraphrase the quote I listed in an earlier post, “I’m not here for a long time, but I’m here for a good time.” The people at this point is what makes the Camino so enjoyable.
I feel like I processed through so much stuff while I’ve been here. I feel like I’m a more carefree and lighter version of myself. I know that healing is never in a straight line and sometimes we take two steps back to take one step forward. I’m sure I’ll be challenged down the road but for now, I’m happy with my progress. (update: I didn’t realize how quickly that challenge would come.)
I’ve roped the other pilgrims into my shenanigans of taking our photo in the traffic mirrors. We even got Darren & Molly (Aussie/Kiwi) to join in on one but the mirror was filthy. I’ll snooker them in again though for a better shot.
I love hiking with Dora and Heyekyung. These two girls are so much fun. I’ve almost peed my pants twice because they’ve had me laughing so hard. Tears actually fell out of my eyes. I feel really happy when I’m around them. They have a good vibe.
Here comes the drama……..
Later in the day Stephen and I got lost. I mean, “Into The Wild” type of lost. Which actually sparked the Quote Of The Day: me, “well if we die out here at least people will know to look for us because there won’t be a daily blog update today.”
I had been walking alone. I was pretty far ahead of the group. The day was going great, I was feeling strong and I was really enjoy the walk. The path came to a split on the map. I had to choose to take the red or blue line. I opted for the red because it looked a little shorter. I got a decent length down the path (1/2 mile or so) and realized that it wasn’t correct even though it was on the app. It was leading to nowhere. It was following the power lines but they were going higher into the mountain and our path should have gone down to the next village. So I turned around and on my way back ran into Stephen. I told him it was the wrong way but I let him convinced me to keep on this path even though I knew better. When am I ever going to learn this lesson? Oy vey. Anyhoo, I let him take the lead and we ended up on a not fun adventure. I ended up walking this dumb portion of the path FOUR TIMES! We couldn’t find a way through. We were scaling (more like sliding) down loose fill dirt under a huge bridge, we tried to cut through a field only to find we were blocked by a big creek with a decent sized cliff that wasn’t passable. We had to go back through said field. We walked through thick vegetation. Stephen got a huge gash on the back of his leg (I felt queasy from looking at it), a cut on his arm and I had a minor cut on my hand. Geez. Finally we found a dirt road which led us back to the path and there we found Heyekyung who had stopped to take a nap during our hour and a half scavenger hunt. Are you kidding me? She started laughing hysterically when she heard our tale of woe. But here’s the thing, I’m not even upset with Stephen. This is 100% my fault. I chose to follow him. I could have easily said, “you do what you want but I’m going back to the blue path. Later.” But I didn’t! I’m nuts…and an idiot. I’m angry and frustrated with myself that I continue to let other people persuade me when I need to follow my own guidance. I’m never trusting this dude with directions for my Camino again. I’ve finally learned my lesson. I think. Check with me again tomorrow.
Whoever designs some of these bathrooms ought to consider another career. Last night I was in the shower and the lights went off. Now, I understand that they have the lights and water on timers to save money (we aren’t always the most responsible bunch) but why do the light switches need to be outside of the bathroom? The lights were on when I went into the shower so you can guess what that was like trying to find the damn switch in the dark…naked. Ugh. I’ll leave the remainder of this story to your imagination but it ain’t pretty. It’s right in line with peeing in the woods.
Today, Heyekyung got very still and then caught a fly with her barehands…Mr. Miyagi style. This evening she caught another one under a coke can. Impressive.
Tonight we are at a municipal…the most basic of accommodations. It’s a former school…and it’s pretty old. There are just a few of us again but everyone already knows everyone. Our foursome, Andrew, Darren and Molly, the Aussies and a Kiwi, Graham from the UK and Michael from Germany. It’s a good bunch. The town doesn’t have much in terms of amenities except for a little grocery store. Dora, Heyekyung and I went shopping for the goods. Heyekyung made an amazing pasta dish, veggies in a soy sauce mixture, and eggs with veggies. She is an incredible cook. I assembled the salad and did the dinner dishes. Dora cleaned up the cooking dishes. We are still waiting for Stephen to pay up for his portion of the deal. Men.
My knee is still sore but I’ve developed a little tendinitis just above both my ankles. We’ll see what the next few days bring.
Epiphany moment: We ran into Andrew from Australia earlier in the day on the trail. He said he successfully found Michael from Canada, who was thrilled to have his neck thingy back. He thought he had lost it forever. I saw it as a metaphor for my own struggle with letting go. If it’s meant to be in your life, it will always come back. If not, let it go gently and bless it with light and love. 🙏 Immediately after this encounter, “Turn The Page” randomly came on my iPhone. My song from last year’s Camino. I took it as a sign from the universe. The slow bloomer in me needed one more Camino to truly be able to let go of everything and everyone & truly turn the page to start a new chapter in my book of life. ❤️ Onward & upward, dear friends.
Canero – Pinera – 21.7km
Goodnight and much love from Spain.
