Walking the Camino's Way

September 17, 2008 … And so it begins
―Tomorrow is the day. We leave the house at 12 noon and will not look back -- an
opportunity for this pilgrim, who frequently lives in the past and the future, to truly practice
mindfulness of the marvelous now.
We fly from Chattanooga to Atlanta, then Atlanta to Madrid, and then on to San
Sebastian in northeastern Spain. There we will either ride one bus and two trains or find us a
taxi driver who will drive us over the Pyrenees to our starting point of St Jean Pied de Port in
southern France.
We have chosen to arrive following a route that is not part of the Camino, and it is a
little circuitous, and yet I think all true pilgrimages in life are meant to be the same. We will
spend the first two nights in a hostel called L'Esprit du Chemin (We got the last two beds
available, of course) … We will relax for a day in St Jean to help get over our jet lag and
ground us for the walk, and then we will put our feet on the Way on Sunday morning the
21st of September.
Our minds, hearts and Souls have already somehow started the Journey, and we leave
you with words from one of Stephen Levin's beautiful poems -- ‗Step after step, breath after
breath; we are able to step within each step, to find the breath within the breath, and within
that -- the sacred.‘‖ ~ inspired by Suzanna
Here are Mom & I standing in front of the altar used during our ―Pilgrim's Mass‖
the night before. It was a universalist service dedicated to blessing Mom & I for our
journey, and uplift Lawrence, who was to ―hold the space‖ while we were away …
The marigolds on the altar were strung by our dear Friend, Jyoti.
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