(photo K Burke)
In midst of today with holidays coming and going. In the midst of today with years closing and years opening. In the midst of today with my medical stuff all up in the air. In the midst of today with things going on with family, friends and neighbors. Somehow I need to clear my head and get to some place beyond all that for a moment.
Trying to conjure up a Camino memory that makes me smile. Oh, I got two, great. Maybe I will just recount those to bring a couple of smiles to us. I know I have mentioned these in the past but maybe it has been years.
Kelly and I were walking on the Meseta thinking that things were under control and smooth. We came to a bowl in the landscape maybe 100 yards to 200 yards across. There was a “Y” in the center that we could see. We walked down into the bowl and exactly as we did that two other groups entered on the other two legs of the “Y”. So, all three parties simultaneously recognized the situation and we all halted. And over the distances we all shrugged and laughed and laughed. We all couldn’t be right, could we?
On one unbearably hot afternoon we fell into a shadow cast by a wall in a rustic town. There were other pilgrims sheltered there and we didn’t realize it right away but it was a line that was waiting to have their blisters worked on. So Kelly said hey I need this and got in line. So he worked his way to the “doc” and asked whether he was a doctor. The guy said no. Then Kelly said something like, well you were in medical school right? And the guy said no but I took biology. Geez, I laughed and laughed. Making do!
And today here in the tail end of 2020 we at the ranch got a Christmas photo card from San Diego from Todd and Jessika. This made me smile. They were part of the crew that had flown to Spain to walk the Camino with Kelly and I and did the filming. Guess what, they fell in love there and got married on their return and now have two beautiful children. Camino love!
Well well, we did manage to smile. Thanks for stopping by to see us.
smiling loves, Felipé.
“I took biology”!!! That made me laugh hard!!!!!
You made me remember one afternoon in Rabanal del Camino, in the English Albergue… I had set up my ilegal medical practice 😂😂 and after treating the very bad blisters of an Irish pilgrim, a lady from Germany came pointing her knee. But you know, I am multilingual but German is out of the list, and I am not a trained doctor either, so with looking at the knee, I couldn’t figure anything… so… the Hospitalera came with a German-English paper dictionary from 1960 I believe, and the three of us sat in the shadow, in silence, and I just cracked up laughing, the Hospitalera followed and the German woman did the same. The situation was so bizarre and laughable!!!
One other: this is late September, pretty warm day, meseta, frying sun for a Canadian and a woman from Alaska who were walking with me. They were longing for the snow in Christmas time… so they decided to walk singing Christmas carols… we stopped for a shade and an “Aquarius” in the middle of nowhere but with a tree and three other Canadians friends of us came in too complaining of the heat too. So my friends told them the strategy to cope: sing Christmas carols and think of the snow. And so, they kept wale king like this and provided laughter to many more pilgrims and music to the Camino!
Let’s go back to the Camino please!!!!!!
Cris
By the way, it is 98F here right now!
98F Cris ~ Oh, I’m laughing. I can so see both of those situations. Hehe. That’s the trouble with our “normal” life, not enough desperation to push us into those corners. Ah, memories. In the end that is what it may be all about, collecting memories. Thanks. And Happy New Year! Felipé.x
Wish I could post photos here, because I have a hilarious one of you, me and Kelly shortly after arrival in Carrion de los Condes, thinking we had all the time in the world to find a hostel and drinking nice, cold white wine. We were so wrong, especially when one of you ordered a second bottle…that was also when you blogged that you were sharing the hotel room with Kelly and Mary Margaret and hadn’t had that much fun since 7th grade summer camp!
I still laugh at the reminiscence of the next night outside the hostel when we sang and laughed louder than the Italians!
Alperfect Camino love, joy and knowing that all will be exceedingly well, whatever comes, Peregrino. Tell your amazing Rebecca that I know ‘we are all just walking each other home,’ and am grateful that our paths crossed.
MM~ we had some good chemistry back along the trail. I have one great pic with the three of us on the road, me with a feather in my cap. Angela must have taken it. Happy New Year Sweetheart. Felipé.x