Messages of love the whole way

Age and I had promised each other to return and send some sort of message to the other; whoever crossed the veil first.

Though I felt him strongly on the days just past his death, as soon as he had chosen the spot for his grave, I felt him leave and not felt his presence since.

Whether its that final stage of grieving, where normality returns, or that it is the acceptance that his spirit has moved on; and so must I; its been a hard few months to accept that lack and gap.

I've blogged earlier on to say how I feel that the Camino is that final chapter of farewell for me, to Age; so won't rehash anything here. 

I also know that the amount of love I have surrounding me, being held strong by those around me as pulled me through this journey. 

With this in my heart, I am seeing small messages of love along the way. There was and never has been a doubt how much we loved each other. Perhaps its a trick of the eye, or that I am now looking out for it.. But I see hearts everywhere. Leaves, branches, shapes in the clouds and stones.. All unmistakenly in the shapes of hearts.

I choose to believe these are messages from Age. I choose to accept them as his way of giving me his blessing on my new path and as his farewell to me.

Todays heart was a stone, which was beside my boot when I stopped for a rest.

I'm carrying it now. Beautiful.. No?

To Santo Domingo de la Calzada

I am starting to sound like a broken record I guess. Another long hot day on ricky tracks with very little shade. However, the fountains were more plentiful and we ensured we stopped for lunch for over an hour.

Getting into the swing of the best times to chat with Michael and this - early evening for hom, midday for us, seems to work as the bars we stop at for lunch always have wifi.

The vinyards are no gone, replaced by sweeping plains of waving wheat. With the gentle breeze moving the heads, it ripples and shivers like a live animal. 

Some shots ftom today.. Me a few kms into the morning.. So happy to see the numbers go down.

The kids walk so well with one another. This is them going past a huge stack of hat.

Acrest spot with concrete chassis lounges.

The sweet sweet view of our next town ahead.

Lilly as the Saint Domingo Garcia and the rooster..

There is a legend in this town of the miracle of the rooster who was dwad and got up and criwed to prove the innocence of a man condemned to die . Ever since, the cathedral has had roosters inside it.. No kidding.. We paid six euros to see a rooster in a chicken coop in a cathedral.

Misadventures with Michelle

I met a lovely Melbourne lass called Michelle last night. In my defence, I didnt mean to stay out so late!!

Our Albergue was full so the kids and I were put into an overflow hut down the street. What that meant was there was no wifi, so in order for me to chat to Michael, I needed to get the kids into bed and then walk up the street to the courtyard.

With summertime here, its hard to get the kids in bed before 9.30. - one because dinner and the bars arent usually  open till 8 and teo, because the sun doesnt go down  before then. Kids in bed, me in pjs and a light fleece, I set off, barefoot, up the street in order to catch Michael before he needed to go to work.

Just as I sat down, the signal failed, so as I wandered round foing the wifi shuffle ( you know, that lost desperate stare into your screen as you walk around the space) I overhear an Aussie accent talking about her blisters. Always one to help out with advice, I plonked myself down and we just started to chat. 

We both identified with the freedom and power the Camino gifted us in speaking freely; without judgement. The beauty of the Camino is that there really is a level plsying field. We are all walking; got sore feet and legs, have sunburn, are tired and hungry. The only things we really want is a soft bed and a hot shower. Everything is stripped away; all the false pretenses, all the masks. We greet one another as fellow humans, nodding with respect at the journey we know the other has done to get here.

The lights went out on us, but that didn't stop us sharing deeply personal stories and views on life. We would have been there well past midnight and though I know neither of us wanted to leave, it was time to snuggle into bed and not think about getting up early and walking the next day.

I am sure she'd have loved to share a bottle of wine too.. Its the only thing missing from our D and M.  Through our chats, she really clarified a few things, making events which I guess were true and I knew, but needed to to hear again.

After we said goodnight, i left the courtyard, closing the door; which clucked that ominous click of finality.

I walked down the street in my barefeet and PJs, horrified to see the doir of my home closed... And locked. I walked round and tested every window. At that time of night there was no way I could knock and wake anyone.

Lets just say, after considering sleeping in the church ( hard floor and very cold).. I resorted to some break and enter tactics.

Thank goodness it wasnt too high a window, though when I shimmied up onto the ledge snd saw what a drop I had to get to the floor, i sent a little prayer  asking not to break my leg on the jump down.

Our 'shed'