April 24 Thursday How Do You Eat An Elephant?

April 24 Thursday How Do You Eat An Elephant?

Not that I eat elephants. It has never occurred to me to eat an elephant. It seems to me this first problem would be finding a pot big enough to cook it in. But I digress, the mind wanders. The standard answer is, "one bite at a time." This were the thoughts that went through my mind as I was faced with a 200 meter (700 foot) climb today. Well to be perfectly honest. There were other thoughts consisting mostly of expletives. The made the Pyrenees look like a slight grade. The hike to O'Cebreiro pales by comparison. And not only was it steep, it was rocky with lots of loose dirt and pebbles. 

This morning in the taxi when we passed the people walking by the side of the road I was really happy with my decision. When I looked at this climb, which would have been at the end of an 18 mile walk, I thanked God for his intervention. As it was I I had already walked 7 or 8 miles by the time I came to this "elephant." I had walked about eight miles. I wasn't exhausted, but I was tired. I can't imagine coming to it after 18 miles. I think I would have just sat down and wept. Not that there would have been any witnesses. I only saw two people today. I just said to myself "put one foot in front of the other, one step at a time." Well that was after I said to myself, "you silly woman, what were you thinking?" I did what I've done many times over the years when training or retraining my body to walk or run distances. I just set a goal, like make it to that tree and then rest." It worked. 

I got to the top and looked back at a magnificent view. It was like being on top of the world. I saw a woman I shared the taxi with. And then after a while a man came along and we took each other's pictures. Then as I was listening to one of my favorite Joan Baez songs, dating myself here, God Is God, I looked in front of me at a 200 meter downhill. Uphill is hard, but for me downhill is worse on my body. It doesn't work well for Tilty people either. I was thinking, "First up, then down; why not just blast a trail through the damn mountain." Before my hubby and all my environmental compatriots get their hackles up, I know why not. My mind was just kidding, sort of. 

After my face plant on a similarly steep downhill two years ago, I was picking my way down this very carefully. At one point I saw something out of my peripheral vision. It was a guy with a pack, without poles almost running down this slope. We both said, "Buen Camino!" After he passed, my bratty voice said, "show off." A short while later a woman comes by with a pack and no poles at about the same speed. Humbled, I continued my snail's pace. 

I did enjoy the early walk today. After the highway the Camino goes into and through a large open space, Parque Natural Sierra Norte. It was breathtaking. I'm so grateful I had the time to walk slowly and absorb the beauty. I took pictures and just enjoyed the ramble. There were so many flowers I had never seen before. Glorious combinations of purple, white and gold. Words fail me. Then there were some spectacular ruins and an old white building in a field of green. In the morning it was over cast, then it started to rain a little, then the clouds cleared and the sun came out. So all of the colors changed hue and saturation during the whole morning. There was also some great cloud art to treat the eyes. It was delightful. 

At one point I stopped to pee and as I was squatting I saw this strange brown shape I thought was a rock, but it was shiny and there were no other rocks around like it. I was going to move it with my stick, turn it over to get a better look. Something made me pause, and I'm so glad it did because then I noticed several little brown things with feelers crawling along. Apparently, they were slugs of some kind. They didn't have shells like snails. Shortly after this I saw this great red and black hard shelled bug burrowing into the earth. 

Last night I thought I was going to freeze to death. I only have a fleece sleep sac. This has been quite sufficient on two Camino Frances in summer and fall. But this is April and to my surprise, we are in the mountains. I don't know where I thought I was going, but I was thinking valley, or desert floor. I put on practically every stitch of clothing I had as I laid there most of the night awake thinking I need to find a sleeping bag soon. On the Frances they have blankets, but for some reason I didn't think they had them on this Camino. I thought until I can buy a sleeping bag, maybe I can fill my water bladder with warm or hot water at night and use it like a hot water bottle.  When I came downstairs there were two blankets sitting on a chair, the same chair I sat on when I checked in yesterday. Duh! So today when I came to the albergue I asked if they had mantas.(blankets.) they did and I snuggled under one for a nap.  

After my nap I went and had a big meal of pasta, pork chops, the ubiquitous french fries, natiilla (custard with a cookie on top-homemade, water, and café con leche. Then I walked around for a while and met my Finnish friend when I went to the market to get Kleenex and water. He hadn't eaten, so I kept him company while he ate. He has a wife, four children and one grandchild. But, I don't know his name. It's funny that way on the Camino. 

When I got back to the albergue a whole herd of children had arrived. When they aren't making noise, the father is by talking to them in a very loud voice. It' time to remember the Buddhist monks and the begging bowls, accept what the universe provides. Well it's bed time. I hope it quiets down in the next hour or two.