October 14, 2019

10/14/2019, 16:00

I just woke up from an hour-long nap!  I’m sitting in an exquisitely comfortable chair in front of a blazing fireplace, listening to classical music.  And I feel wonderful!  All around me are pilgrims lounging in the sitting room in our albergue in Boadilla Del Camino.  Some are writing in their journals, others are reading (real paper books!) while others are glued to their phones.  We’re all sitting around after a rainy, cold and blustery day on the Camino where the headwinds were blowing at what felt like 30-mph.  Fr. Tony, Charlotte (UK) and I have been traveling together since Burgos for what seems like a lifetime but in reality has only been three days.    

The sitting room of the albergue, En El Camino, in Boadilla Del Camino.  That’s my chair to the left of the fireplace!

Today’s 13-mile odyssey on the meseta (the northern Spanish plain, as in the phrase “the rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain”) began over an hour prior to sunrise with a rigorous 12-percent ascent back up to the meseta from our overnight stay in Castrojeriz. After an initial stretch, during which we actually had moon shadows from the full moon (Does anyone remember the Cat Stevens’ song “Moonshadow?”), the clouds rolled in and the rain and wind pummeled us on and off for the next four hours.  The headwind, in particular, made for a very tiring journey.  As a result, after the routine of showering and washing clothes (this time we splurged and paid the albergue staff to do the washing), we had a warming lunch of chicken soup, salad, beef chucks with the obligatory red wine (vino tinto) before retiring to our bunks for a nap (more appropriately termed a “siesta” here in Spain). 

Full moon over Spain.
Moon shadows with the town of Castrojeriz in the background.
A cloudy sunrise on the meseta
Fr. Tony walking into a headwind.

After that refreshing nap, sitting in front of the warm fire just seems like the right thing to do while the wind and rain continued outside.  Days of inclement weather, like today, give me time to reflect on what a wonderful life that I’ve had (remember the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” with Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey?).  I’m blessed with a tremendous wife, Mary, loving children (Terri, John and Mark) and grandchildren (Charlie Lucie and Nora May, with the possibility of more to come).  Additionally, I’m grateful for friends: Old, new and yet to be.  In particular, I appreciate  my fellow pilgrims: Fr. Tony and Charlotte (UK).  As they said in the old Miller Life commercial “It doesn’t get any better than this!”  Thank you, God!


Jim Olshefski