26 October 2006

Dear Aymory

A great day's walk. Got up and prepared, had a good breakfast and left about 9:00 AM. Clear sky and NO RAIN !!! Sun will be up soon.

Weather was just great all day. The terrain was pretty good - a few steep climbs but mostly a relatively level walk through tiny villages. Made good time. Stopped in Salceda for a delicious cold beer knowing I was only about 2 km from my destination - Brea. Chatted with a couple from Barcelona. (Apparently, my Spanish is holding up.) Easy walk on to Brea and found the hostal without difficulty.

Had a rest and then dinner - a terrific Gallego meal of cauldo, cocido gallego and excellent local wine. Is there more? :)

Hard to believe but tommorrow will be my last complete day and night on the Camino. Pierre Arnold called me. He knows exactly where I am. He will tell Dave and Vince that all is well.

I sit here in this inside patio and realize that tonight is probably the last night I will experience rural Spainish hospitality and circumstances. Sure, I'll be a tourist for a few days in Santiago de Compostela but it is ending. A lot of mixed feelings.

Physically, this has been the most gruelling thing I have ever done. Period. I look back and just can't believe what I have done! I don't say this out of boasting. If I had known how hard it was going to be, I may not have done it. My feet look terrible. God knows what I've done to my knee and I know I have hurt my shoulder. To top it off, I lost a filling yesterday. People think I'm doing something great - if they only knew! I'm just a shambling wreck who doesn't know how to quit.

The man who owns this hostal is out in the back of the patio piling firewood. His wife and daughter-in-law are in the kitchen chatting while his grandson is running around out here. A French pilgrim has come in and gon to bed in the albergue. She is complaining (loudly) about the cost - 12 euros vs 1 euro yesterday. I commented that she could go on if she wanted to or go back to where she was last night :) She said she felt people took advantage of pilgrims and I replied that maybe pilgrims take advantage of local people. This is a family compound. We come, or not and we accept the terms, or not and are happy with the results.

I will miss this ambience when I go home. I have come to take it for granted - the noise, the kids, the friends and family - the easy community of a family; the breadman and fishman and the cheeseman with their busy small vans darting through the countryside. I will miss them.

And yet, I love my Canada. I love my life there with my family, my friends and my work. I guess the challenge will be to integrate all of this. Boy, is that ever a challenge!

There are visual and cultural 'things' that cannot be transposed and yet so much of this wonderful history is soaked in violence and blood. Let no-one underestimate the value of Canada. We may not have the 'glories' of the historical past but these were paid for with the blood and bone of untold millions.

We have an awesome country. I only wish we had leaders worthy of leading it.

Ultreya