And Here We Go…

One of the reasons why I love walking the Camino is discovering what it has to offer. With these discoveries, one learns to appreciate the beauty of things that to others may be unattractive or meaningless. The ironic thing about that is that neither is wrong. Here are some, not all, of the offerings Jim and I encountered on this Camino thus far.

One has been the sheer number of farm fields. We’ve walked beside miles and miles of produce and are struck by the quantity that is being harvested. The rows of tomatoes look like a scene from Christmas with green fields and red light bulbs. The vineyards grapes all bunched together waiting their turn to be picked and turned into luscious wines. And the corn stalks standing tall like soldiers guarding their harvest. It’s a beautiful site to see food being grown for us to be fed and pleasured.

Another gift of our walk are the long dirt paths. By the end of the walk, you have a huge dust cloud around you and you can’t wait to take your shower. On the flip side, that cloud of dust represents the feat you’ve accomplished that day, walking all those miles to get to your day’s destination. It tells of your persistence where even though you’re bone tired, steaming hot and carry a pool of sweat on you, you kept your promise to yourself. The beauty of completing your daily goal helps fuel your motivation to continue.

Finally, there is the offering of abandoned/decayed buildings which always stimulate my imagination. What did they look like in their heyday? Who lived there? How did they get to this point? There are no answers for us in the moment so we are left to create our own stories. The beauty in these buildings is the memories and secrets that they hold. Someone once loved them. Wouldn’t it be amazing for them to be restored and new memories to be created?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and this beholder feels blessed to have the chance to witness these sites in person.