1.A Question
“So why did you decide to walk the Camino?” The answer varies from person to person. A forty-five year old German woman wants to get away from a bad breakup. A Canadian couple walks to celebrate their children’s graduation, and the independence it gives them. Another couple from South Africa is celebrating their fiftieth anniversary. Of all the people I ask over the course of our walk, none of them cite relgious reason – many have a background in faith, but not have it as their primary motivation. It would seem that the Camino draws the secular more than the religious.
- The Road Not Taken
What is one to do when two roads diverge with not a yellow arrow in sight? One of the first Camino miracles I here about is from an Irishman – he describes how when he was at a loss for arrows to look for in the dark before sunrise, he instead followed a light he assumed was another pilgrim’s headlamp. He followed that light all the way to an open field, where he found the yellow arrows to guide him, but no light or fellow pilgrim to whom it belonged. An inexplicable occurrence, meant to lead him to the right path rather than allowing him to go astray.
- Acquainted with the Night
On our final day, I walk into the city of Santiago alone, buoyed by the optimism and trust that the Camino usually provides. As the urban sprawl builds up around me and the arrows become few and far between, that sense of comunitas begins to dissipate. It feels like I’m back in LA at midnight – I remember the need to brandish keys as a form of weaponry, I remember what it is to be scared of the voices approaching behind me, and I remember what it is to be always checking over my shoulder, walking just a bit faster. I remember what it is to be alone. When I make it to the Cathedral, I am not so much victorious at finishing the walk as relieved to be safe again with my community.
- Nothing Gold Can Stay
Our first day of walking is also our first day of poetry is also our first day of collecting advice. “It’ll be over before you know it. The walk itself is what will change you.” And we smile and nod and laugh with each other and continue on. And the old wisdom is right – the days fly even when the miles drag, and suddenly in a moment that stretches hundreds of kilometers, we arrive in Santiago. Even knowing that we’ll continue on, keep walking and eventually journey home, it still feels like gold, pure gold.