Cutesy Backpack

I took my backpack from last year's walk along the Camino Frances and decorated it with some puff paints. Then Diana reminded me of the extra weight that the paint will add to my total weight. I laughed because it does mean extra weight, even if in grams. And there are people who cut the handle of their toothbrush in half just to remove a few grams!! So no more decorating.OH.... and the little smears? Courtesy of my doggie Shiloh whose happy tail swished through the wet paint. Shiloh now sports a colorful tail.
"Basic equipment on these journeys is Will/Love/Intelligence. Will guarantees success. Love clarifies one's motivation. Intelligence plans sensible care en route."

Salvador is Walking

I received a voucher from Delta last July for offering to bump me off the flight I was on with my friend Betsy. I was in Tampa and flying home so instead they flew me to Pensacola, paid for a car rental and I was home 3 hours later than intended. But I got a 400 dollar voucher. Oh yeah... Betsy said oh yeah too.
So lately I was freaking out that I would lose the voucher unless I used it soon.... and since I an going to Spain in April and not coming back until July I had to do something. I thought about going to California to attend the American Pilgrims conference, I thought about going to St Thomas and joining my brother in his sailing races... other ideas but nothing came through. So I asked my son Salvador if he would be interested in going to Spain with me. He just left his job, he needs to move out of his apartment soon since his lease is up and he intends in starting college in the autumn. So, I offered and he actually said yes. WOW. I was a bit surprised since offers to fly him somewhere over the last few years have been answered with an I don;t know. I am so excited that he is going to our mother land, that he is going to experience a different culture, ours; that he will meet family and that he will share the experience of the Camino with me. We are flying in different airlines through different connections but we will arrive in Madrid 15 minutes apart. Then it's off we go!

Round 2

It was easy to make this decision. Since I returned from my first Camino, the Camino Frances (see other blog), I have not had a moment where that experience has not popped up in my thoughts. I belong to several forums which I check several times daily to see what others are writing about and now I am participating as a veteran pilgrim.
As a result, and understanding now why others walk across Spain more than once, I have decided to go again. Yes it was only last August when I started over the Pyrenees to head to Santiago and Finisterra but I feel a strong calling to go back.
I remember when people here in Tallahassee that I knew talked about earth changes and how so many people were moving to North Carolina to start communities so that they could build camaraderie and live together.... and now I feel a bit like that. Like I have a community of pilgrims from all over the world who feel compelled to live and relive this Pilgrimage.
A basic human need to belong is in all of us. As a midwife I teach the importance of community to my families, so that as they bring babies into the world they feel supported. I help them by becoming aware of this need and giving tips on how to do it. I belong to that community, and just as I have given I have also received.
But now I have a new community. Although it exists over the internet, I have a sense of belonging that supports and helps me to justify this crazy need to walk across Spain!
I got my ticket, and I am leaving April 27th, arriving April 28th in Madrid. Then I will head south to Sevilla where I will walk over a different Camino, the Via de la Plata. This one is a little bit longer, almost 1000 kilometers. I will walk with the same joy as I did before... I will walk and meet others like me.... I will sleep with them, eat and share wine with them... talk, share stories and be in love with them... I will be alone, I will think, I will sing, I will pray, I will probably cry at some point, I will do so much...