Rogation

Your journey never ends. Life has a way of creating diversions in incredible ways

I finished my physical journey to Santiago de Compostela last week, along with my wife and various members of my Camino family. At the risk of repeating myself, the arrival in the plaza was an incredible expreience, both emotionally moving and awe inspiring at the same time. One of my Camino family, Linda, one of the “twins” described it as her most most emotional day, seeing the new arrivals standing speechless in the plaza as each person absorbs the majesty and beauty of the location in their own way. It is a special place that has absorbed the hopes, elation and emotion of millions of pelegrinos over hundreds of years.

It was strange not having to get up and walk the following day. That has been the one constant in my life since mid-April – the daily rythym of “Walk, Eat, Sleep and Repeat”. The day was special because it was my birthday and I was able to spend it in this wonderful location with members of my Camino family and Daphne.

Daphne and the Camino crew had arranged a surprise dinner for me in the evening – a wonderful evening with lots of joking around amongst ourselves. The evening was topped off by Lariane, one of the group receiving a call from her husband, asking where she was at that moment. He had surprised her and arranged to fly to Santiago for her arrival that day. A long journey for him, starting in Aberdeen in the “wee small hours” of Wednesday. Her face brightened at the call and when he walked into the dining room to join us. A beautiful gesture.

It was difficult to leave our Camino family on Thursday and I have spent some time thinking about how I am going to readjust to life outside the tunnel. It is a very special journey with lessons for all who choose to undertake its magnitude. The transtion is made easier knowing that I am returning to Maggie and our home in the village of Tunworth, a special place. (The twins keep threatening to travel over and move into the stables – we’ll see!)

Sunday was the Rogation Walk in Tunworth. This is an ancient tradition, where the residents walk the boundaries of the parish and pray for protection for the crops and the parish – is a bit of a bookend to the Harvest Festival later in the year. After the walk was completed, accompanied by a myriad of dogs, all decamped to our garden where a surprise was awaiting me. Daphne had arranged yet another surprise, with one wall of the garage being entirely covered by some of the photos I had taken during the journey, as well as arranging for a special birthday cake to be made by one of our neighbours Hazel. Yet another lovely surprise with the love and support of many of our neighbours and friends. Tunworth is a wonderful community and we are truly blessed to call this our home.

I am re-acclimatising to non-Camino life and the Camino group still keeps in contact via Whatsapp and social media. There have even been exploratory discussions of the next adventure… where next?

Some of the group continued on to Finisterre after Santiago, a traditional desitnation for many pelegrinos and pictures of their journey are below.

I’ll leave you today with the words of Brett, one of the family

Grateful for where I’m at, Excited about where I’m going”

Buen Camino