*This past Saturday around noon, Helen's foot finally got too painful to continue walking and she decided to take a bus to Santiago from Palas de Rei. She encouraged me to continue walking alone and I believe that she was being quite kind in wanting me to have some time on the Camino alone as well as being able to complete the walk and receive my Compostela. I think she also was amused by the idea of unleashing me on the Camino alone with no interpreter. I can honestly say that now people on the last part of the Camino do understand "Hola y'all" and will be prepared for future southern Estados Unidos folks that come down the path.
Walking the Camino alone is very different from walking it together. Alone you have no one to talk to most of the time except yourself and God. For me, it was a great time as the words "grateful and thankful" kept coming to my mind. I had plenty of time to reflect on all of my many blessings including my walk with the Lord, my biological family, my community group, my church family, and my business family. I was also very thankful to be physically able to make a strenuous walk like this. The weather was also perfect. As you can see, God had set it all up for me. The obvious downside of being alone is that Helen was not beside me to share the sights, sounds, etc.
In 2-1/2 days I walked around 42 miles over sometimes rocky and challenging terrain. I have now found out that although I still feel very young at heart and in spirit, my body does get tired. My feet and legs particulary felt the stress toward the end.
I met some very nice folks along the way. Saturday night in Melide I ate dinner with a Canadian couple who were walking at a somewhat slower pace. They were 82 and 68 respectively. Yes, that is 82! I hope to be that spry. Sunday night in Arca do Pina I ate dinner with an Austrian couple, a Danish couple and a Danish woman. The Austrians were on their third Camino while the Danes were in their third year of walking portions of the Camino. They finished yesterday after me. It has been fun to see people from the trail in town today.
It was wonderful to walk into the square at the Cathedral yesterday and see Helen waiting for me. We had a joyful reunion and got caught up. I went to the pilgrim office and received my Compostela. Last night we ate dinner with an Australian. He was quite interesting as he owns managed health care company and contracts with Governments to provide better cheaper care than they can. He is a practicing Catholic who really appreciated the many churches, priests, etc. along the Camino.
Helen's foot is still hurting and we got some crutches for her today so she can keep some weight of it. Tomorrow we are going to ride a bus to Finis Terra, or Fisterra, which until Columbus discovered the new world was thought to be the end of the earth.
As you can see from Hunter´s entries, he continues to steam along.
--Wick
*These photos were added on Oct.19 at home.
