Listen

I’m well and truly on the Meseta. Some find it endlessly dull (and it may be different in the summer when the harvest has been collected) but I find it beautiful. It isn’t entirely flat – there are undulations and some hills. The fields are planted with different crops. It is wonderful to walk through this land watching for different birds and small insects. Today I saw a whole group of blue butterflies – it was beautiful. I walked along a small river for a couple of hours and one could hear frogs and ducks and other birds too. I am constantly followed by the sound of a cuckoo – which always makes me smile.

I have seen many storks on the journey. Every church tower has stork nests perched perilously on top. They are majestic birds and are flying round us frequently. The small birds are very playful and very brave. They sit on the side of the trail and play – moving five to ten metres up the trail and starting again.

The Camino has created a rhythm for me and it doesn’t take too much to change it. Last night I didn’t sleep very well – perhaps it was too much quiet contemplation after the day’s travel. Even though today’s walk was not too long I didn’t have the energy to enjoy it and wasn’t in the frame of mind to talk to anyone. In fact today was the first time I listened to music for a period of time. My apologies to the two French ladies I walked with for part of today, Losanne and Patri. I wasn’t in the mood to talk or listen and so sped up past them.

An American couple I sometimes walk with start their day by playing the Lords’s Prayer sung by Andrea Bocelli. It is beautiful and part of their daily rhythm. Today they played it just behind another Camino friend, a Scottish lady. She told us later that when she heard it she thought god was speaking to her directly and almost jumped out of her skin. It was funny but moving as well.

I heard that a woman who fell on the trail a couple of days ago has badly smashed her nose. She was walking with her hands tucked into her back back straps and couldn’t protect herself when she fell. She flew back to South Africa for reconstructive surgery. Another member of our travelling Camino family has had to admit defeat to her feet demons and catch a train to Leon. Our bodies are our main tool for this journey and we need to listen to and protect them.

Buen Camino