I feel like a farmer, checking and rechecking the weather report, scanning the sky and calculating what we will be doing at what time of day in relation to the temperature and the sky. It looks like our partly cloudy skies will be dropping rain throughout the day. It makes the farewell to the Pazo in Arzua bittersweet. Is it a Purple Rain day or a Rainy Days and Monday Always Get Me Down day?
The Camino is full of more and more people, like a river flowing in one direction. We see a salmon, a man doing against the flow. In the quick passing, he tells us he made it Santiago and is now returning to Norway. To Norway! He’s not the first peregrino we meet that is traversing a round trip. I simply cannot imagine the toll on his body, and the joy in his heart to return home using the same mode of transportation he started with. Regardless of the number of fellow pilgrims, Luis and I are always together, or separated by only 10 or 20 feet at the most.
This is the best part for me. Just walking and spending time with Luis. We are often silent in our own thoughts. And there times that we share reflections. Today we talk about the grandbaby changing daily. We talk about our incredulity of living through the Pandemic (so far, anyway), of living through some of the biggest earthquakes of recent years (Loma Prieta in 1989 and Humboldt County, 1994), of the joys of raising Lorenzo and Miguel, of the happiness for Lorenzo having found Arevik, such a wonderful wife, of the plans we have for the future, of my retirement in the not-too-distant future.
We sing, too. We dredge up songs from elementary school days, from our sons’ music classes, from the radio.
Listen. Do you want to know a secret? … We may never pass this way again … Far, a long, long way to run … We may lose or we may win, but we will never be here again …
It passes the time without the help of the internet to Google every question that pops up, without the convenience of listening to Pandora, without the current news analyses of Morning Edition or All Things Considered.
We discuss the possible developments of the war Putin is waging in the Ukraine, What could be the next steps.? Is nuclear war on Putin’s mind? Will the world be swept into World War III? The proximity of Spain to the war is evident in their worry and in their news. Even in the small bars along the Camino, there are signs of support for Ukraine. Spain is barely emerging for a tragic mortality rate from the Pandemic and the country is slowly reopening. It was just a few months ago, the Spanish government opened the borders to foreigners. At every Mass we’ve attended and in the vestibules of the churches, there are homilies at the altars and fliers and posters in the vestibules praying for an end to the war and soliciting support for humanitarian aid and reunification of refugees.
….Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one…
Like this we walk for another 10 or 12 miles. We chat with a Spanish family, a mom and daughter pulling ahead and the dad/husband falling behind. He’s limping and in listening to him, as Luis pulls in front, I find he’s had multiple surgeries and the doctors have removed a cancer-filled kidney. The cancer has spread but they aren’t worried too much because it’s stable. He just wants to complete the Camino.
Later, in a waterlogged grove of moss covered oaks, we chat with a couple from Uruguay. We take turns taking photos of each other, creating proof that the two of them were together and that Luis and I are together on the Camino.
We doubt we will see either group of travelers again, but it would be nice if we were to. We have many more soggy miles to go to get to the last night before our destination. The town we are aiming for is ancient and has had different occupations, cultures and languages, giving the town the names of Arca, O Pino, O Pedrouzo. Meanwhile, these Boots Are Made for Walking….
Willie Nelson sings in my ears as we wash clothesin the coin-op machines at the O Aciviro accommodation. Just Can’t Wait to Get In the Road Again. ~ RoMA
Ordinary Gente 
Singing on the Camino must be the thing to do. I did the same thing!