When the Spirit Catches You Or…Days 28-32: June 7-11

Sarria-Ferreiras-Gonzar-Palais de Rei-Melide-Arzua

This is the way it happened. I was sitting in a small but lively Italian restaurant in Sarria at a table to myself. A woman with long whitish hair walked in. I thought to myself, she looks familiar. She came over to my table and asked if she could join me, introducing herself as Lydia. I realized I had not seen her before. We quickly fell into conversation. She said she was from the Netherlands. I mentioned two Dutch sisters who introduced themselves during the communal meal at the albergue the night before Day One on the Camino in St Jean. I ran into them off and on as time went on. They’d begun to travel with three new friends from the U.S. also present that first night. I hadn’t seen them for a long time but ran into them all in Sahagun, the last night they were all together. One of the Dutch sisters had to go home as scheduled, the rest also ending their Camino time for other adventures. I shared a train seat to Leon with the remaining sister, and we then went our separate ways.

Lydia laughed and asked, “Did the sisters mention a friend who was traveling ahead?” I vaguely remembered a mention at the first communal meal. She said, “I’m that friend!” We talked until 10 PM, the latest I’d stayed up to date, finding a number of things in common. Now what are the chances we would end up at a table together in this particular restaurant…when there were many to choose from and in this particular village?

Some time that night I told her about a Swiss man I’d met very early who started the Camino by walking out his front door…in Switzerland. We both marveled. I hadn’t seen him since that brief passing. But the next morning there in Sarria? I met him again just leaving town.

I took both of these synchronous occurrences as a good sign. There existed a sense of excitement in the air. This is where a number of pilgrims begin walking the Camino, perhaps because they have limited time…and you can still get the completion certificate if you walk these last 111 km. There were a number of fresh, hopeful faces–probably exactly the way I looked on Day One–and carousing by young ones. The anticipation was catching…and I took it on.

Sarria

Plus the realization that I was actually nearing the end. I was like a horse headed to the barn.

And I was falling in love…in a way I hadn’t for a very long time…with this region of Spain called Galicia. 

The next night I spent in Ferreiras, a place so small I almost missed it. If I hadn’t looked up at just the right time I would have passed the albergue on by where I’d made a reservation. I awoke quite early the next morning, having to wait for enough light to set out. That’s when the true magic of the region became apparent to me through the morning mist. Forest, wildflowers,  fields and tiny villages that probably hadn’t changed much in seventy or more years. My footsteps became quite light. My heart was full. My mind was quite still.

I realized that somewhere along the way I’d stopped conscious wazifa practice. I wouldn’t presume to say I’d embodied the Beautiful Names I was working with. But I would say they were working me beneath the surface. Hard to describe. But I could feel it.

This morning along the trail through the forest I actually came upon someone walking more slowly than I was. Not due to an injury but because it was evident she was just as enchanted as I was. She’d stop and look. Just like I did. She began singing a soft song in German. It added to my day. I finally passed her by. She may be out there singing still.

Traditional corn crib.

Tonight I’m staying in Arzua in O Albergue de Selmo, a wonderful place. Not because it’s fancy. It’s not. This little slice of heaven has no more than two bunk beds in an actual cubicle–with a curtain sliding across the entrance for privacy, something quite scarce–a bedside locker for valuables, separate men’s and women’s bathrooms and showers–an adequate number for a change–and a super helpful owner. And because I was the first to arrive and check in, she gave me a cubicle with only one bunk bed, at the farthest end. It’s now late for check-ins. No one is in the top bunk. I must be well loved.

I topped off my day with Caldo Gallego, a bowl of hearty traditional Galician soup–their specialty with cabbage, beans, a little bit of sausage and the ever-present potato–thick crusty bread and vino tinto.

Santiago de Compostela is now within my sight. Only 40 km away to the 0 km marker.