The Internal Journey and Walking with St. Francis

Today's stage is from Cizur Menor to Santa Maria de Eunate (15 km / 9.3 mi). While a shorter route than yesterday's hike, the first half is all uphill to Alto del Pedron where the metal sculptures are.  As I mentioned yesterday I needed to skip this portion because of my legs.

Therefore I took the bus to Urtega and walked to the cathedral in Eunate where I  made arrangements join Peggy. Fortunately the bus made a stop at Alto del Pedron so that I could get a pic of the sculptures.  That's me holding my hat since the wind was furious.

This wonderful shot was actually lifted from the web as it is better than anything I could take with my cell phone

Rather than just writing about the places I've seen on this trek I want to tell also about the internal journey that I am taking. The Camino is not just another hike; it is a pilgrimage and while my reasons for walking it are not religious, they are indeed spiritual.

As most of my friends know, I've had some pretty serious health issues in the last few years.  This included a touch and go near-death scenario that played out not once but three times a couple of years ago.  This changes a man in ways that are hard to describe. There is no doubt that there are  now different physical demands but more importantly there different emotional ones.

The one emotion that has been the driving force in my life since that awful time is gratitude. Everyday I am thankful to be here.  I have a new appreciation of sunsets and an even greater one for sunrises.  There is nothing more inspiring than an early morning walk and watching the sun come up.

I think the other part of this feeling is the need to live my life fully and being the best that I can be. What does being the best mean?  I'm hoping to be able to clarify that on the Camino.  I am retired and financially stable so I have the freedom now to be not only focused but also creative.

C'mon Jake.  Let's go for a walk

And so, the walking is my own form of psychotherapy.  I was telling Peg this morning how simple it was to wake up in the morning with no schedules or to-do lists. All that is on the schedule is walking.

So "C'mon Jake, let's go for a walk."  I stopped by an albergue for a coffee and made small talk with an Irish lass and a gentleman from Korea.

Always a welcome site on the camino

Coffee, sandwich or beer.  Here there were nice bathrooms upstairs

I decided to take my time today and see what came my way. I passed a slow moving snail and found an immediate kinship with it. We peregrinos must seem like supersonic jets to him, much the same as I felt when the pilgrims sped past me and I watched them disappear in the distance.

As my friend Elly writes, this is life in the slow lane

Here is a picture of Valerie, my new found friend from Canada.  She's that little dot further up the road as she zoomed past me. *smile*.  The second pic is another shot of Valerie after I caught up with her at Santa Maria de Eunate, a 12th century Romanesque church built by Knights Templar.

If you squint, you can see her!

Valerie has smiling eyes, eh?

Each of the stones from the church have markings chiseled into them. When I inquired I was told that they represented the name of the stonecutter so that he could get paid for his work.

Stone Signature

Santa Maria de Eunate

The Altar

While waiting for Peggy to arrive I came across a crawdad
in a brook by the church. My friend and I waited patiently for her.

Later we saw chickens at a house that approached us as we passed as apparently others have fed them in the past.  I have heard that this is the 800th anniversary of when St. Francis of Assisi walked the Camino. He's my favorite saint.  He was an 'animal' guy and so I looked for wildlife today in his honor.

Peg is going out tonight on the town with friends as there is a festival going on tonight. We hear that the streets will be crowded.  It is hard enough getting around on crutches as it is anyway without having to fight crowds, so I passed on this.  Also, tomorrow's stage is almost 14 miles and I'm going to need to rest up.  I have no illusions about completing all of it without riding the bus part way, but I want to give it a real effort.

Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you about the Pilgrim's Passport.  Here's a pic of mine with stamps so far.  A peregrino must be able document his travels by getting stamps from churches, restaurants, bars, hotels, etc. along the way.  The last 100 kilometers must be walked without break for buses, etc. in order to receive the certificate.  That's what I am conserving my strength for.  I hope to be healed enough by then to make that walk!