Post caminjo postscript

Famed Chicago Cub baseball player Ernie Banks was famous for his saying “Let’s play Two” before games. He was that enthused about the game. Carol and I were continually amazed by how many people we saw who were walking the Camino for the 2nd, 3rd and many more times. There was one man who had walked it nine times. When we returned we were asked: “Would you do it again?” Carol’s response was: “If I was younger, yes.” Mine was a solid “No.”
But………. After being off the Camino for almost two weeks now, it keeps being a part of our thoughts, our dreams, and our conversations. It is so easy to see the draw of the Camino and the experiences one has while walking. As Carol says: “Where else in the world can you bring together so many people from so many different places all doing the most elemental of things, walking, just walking, and living about as simply as they can, (with a few good restaurants thrown in). And that’s one of the draws. Everything is so crystal clear on the road. You get up, you walk, you eat along the way, you get to your destination, do a few chores, go to bed and get up the next morning and do it again, and again……
And it never gets boring!!!
We didn’t have a single morning, no matter the circumstances, where we got up and wished we didn’t have to walk. Each day was so totally different from all the others, and yet there was a consistency to the days.
There’s also the distortion of time thing.
Time seems not to have the same dimensions on the Camino. Sometimes things seem to move in slow motion. You’re not whizzing by in a car or on a bicycle, you are just walking one step at a time. So things off in the distance take a long time to come into focus. Colors, then shapes, then finally details as you approach. Things are in your line of vision for a long, long time. One of Carol’s favorite surprises was when we’d come in over a rise and, Bang, there’s the town right in front of us.
Ideas, thoughts, and self-awareness were much the same. Here at home thoughts are interrupted by the phone or any of a hundred distractions which cause our thoughts to go in a different direction. But on the Camino the hours of time to think in a concentrated manner allowed things in my mind to coalesce and become clear; to come into focus like the villages we approached.
So you have the slow motion bit, but, in addition, things seem to move really fast. We were absolutely amazed as we saw big chunks of the trail behind us. There were so many little landmarks. We’d been on the trail a week, then we passed a hundred miles, then it was double-figures, and suddenly we had walked more days than we had left………. And so on. We never failed to look at each other in wide-eyed amazement at how quickly they seemed to roll behind us.
But that didn’t mean that we didn’t have absolute focus on each day. While watching the video details of the day, the people and places, that we experienced, come back with such clarity. We know details to come even before they appear on screen. It makes no difference which day of the trail we watch.
In some cases we see things which we didn’t know had happened. For example, on our arrival in Roncesvallaes, I just took some random shots with the camera since we’d be leaving so early in the morning. I saw some pilgrims coming off the trail when they arrived from St. Jean Pied de Port, where we had hoped to start. Watching the video the other day, we laughed when we realized that the three pilgrims were Carla, Daniella, and Laura. Prophetic of things to come.
Then there are the people, our friends from the Camino. Someone mentioned that they were surprised that everybody was so open with their thoughts. We all knew each other for such a short time and deep, open thoughts seemed premature. But in reality, the Camino lends itself to candor by the fact that there simply is not the time to develop relationships in the normal manner. It seems that there is a natural trust to pilgrims. They know why they’re doing the pilgrimage, and they trust the motives of their fellow peregrinos. Nobody on the trail knows them, so they don’t have to pretend. They come to the trail being able to be the person they want to be since nobody has expectations of them. So everybody strips away all the junk and they just let themselves shine through. It was just wonderful to be a part of that with so many great individuals.
So in spite of how crazy it sounds, we’ve decided that we would do the Camino again. That doesn’t mean that it jumps the queue of the trips we are planning, but, as Carol said: “We know better than to rule anything out.” We have heard from some people on the Camino, have received some pictures in email, and we’ve got to send a bunch out to those from Carol’s digital camera.
I’m totally at peace with everything about our Camino: the fact that we didn’t go last year that we couldn’t start in SJPP, and all other aspects of it. This was the Camino we were supposed to do, in this year, on this date, and from Roncesvalles. And, more than anything else, I got to do it with Carol. This was her trip, the one she wanted to do, and naturally I wanted to do it with her, but it was her idea, and it turned out to be one of the great adventures of my life. I again came to realize in the hours of solitude while walking, how many of the great moments of my life are associated with her. From our wedding in 1978 to the present her presence in my life brings nothing but good. She brought me a daughter with whom I got to dance at her wedding, she never doubted me in times of trouble and stuck with me during hard times. Along with the birth of my son, she has always been, and, I have no doubt, will continue to be one of the two best things to happen to me in my life.
And so from the comfort of my living room, I can see why people do the Camino multiple times. I couldn’t understand it while I was walking, but I do now. The physical and emotional demands of walking for so long and so far precluded a repeat in my mind. But now being able to reflect on the total experience, it’s something I could see myself doing again.
Let’s play two.

Love to all and thanks for coming along for the walk, we enjoyed you being part of it with us.
Carol and Jim