Day 38 - Santa Marta - 22.8 km

Weather: Temp: 14 - 21 degrees. Light rain late morning and late afternoon.
Clothes: short sleeve merino top, light fleece, trekking pants.

The walk
This was described as a relatively easy walk in terms of terrain, through forested hills. Instead it has been a rather sad day walking through country devastated by last summers fires - mile after mile - for the whole walk.
At one point one side of the road was completely burnt and black and the other side green with some trees. I stopped to take it all in. The burnt side was silent; it felt dead. I could hear bird song in the distance - but all coming from the green side of the road.
Even worse, the trees in Spain will not recover the way the eucalyptuses do. I think there were great swathes of hills already completely cleared for replanting.
At one point I thought the soil had changed colour from red and yellow to black. Then I saw the black was from the fires. So sad.
In the evening I went to the Santa Marta church which is a unique and important Romanesque Church built in the 12th - 13th Centuries and being the location for the first Camino Pilgrim statue - a small statue, flanking one of the doors.
There is an area at the back of the church that you pass through to get into the nave. This area seemed filled with energy and I wondered if a saint was buried there. It turns out that it is the repository for a number of important relics. I guess these ones were for real because the relic box definitely gave out a lovely strong and constant vibration. I wonder if I will feel anything this time in Santiago.

Food
The stopping point for tonight is a bit confusing regarding food. I thought there was a restaurant 1 km before my final destination but with the sore knee I missed it. But I did stop at the shop for some extra supplies.
In the bar near the albergue I got a a Jamon and cheese bocadilla at 3.30 pm. I thought maybe I would have to fill up on wine 😂😂😂
Then when I was at the church I prayed to be nourished by divine light seeing I hadn’t eaten my usual hearty meal. It must have worked at least a bit because dinner of fruit, yogurt and nuts was enough. 🙏🙏🙏

Update in the body
Remember that ‘soft’ fall I had the other day. Well I didn’t notice that I had grazed/ bumped the side of my left knee. Today it started to really hurt. So I stopped, used the Voltarin cream and popped on the elastic bandage. Thank goodness I was only a couple of K’s from the next town. Right now I am in the bar with my vino, some tapas and resting my leg in a chair. I will sit here for a while and see how it goes.
On the bright side the hills of today were so much easier than a few weeks ago - which is great as we get into the more hilly country.

Camino magic.
Last night I ate a small amount of the pilgrim meal at 8 pm. A slight headache had started in the afternoon/ evening and I woke with the same headache, plus a stuffed up nose and scratchy eyes.
Note to self: Do not eat that late again - not even a small amount! Not a good start to the day.
I also woke with the feeling of being an incompetent and vulnerable child - that I was incapable of doing anything - maybe like an abandoned 5 year old. I have had this feeling a few times on Camino but instead of turning away, this time I acknowledged and welcomed the feeling with the understanding that this is not who I really am.
So with all that I got dressed and went to breakfast. The coffee was well appreciated and there was music playing on the CD player. There was a choir singing something very familiar and I think connected to the Christian church. It was incredibly beautiful; the voices touched something deep and wonderful inside, and tears came. I let them come for a few moments and then went outside for some privacy. Then the music changed, the tears calmed and I went back inside.
Now for the past few days I have been surrounded by men - some of them seemingly sweet and some annoying. Last night there were two pilgrims with whom I have been keeping pace and three on bikes. It’s funny sleeping in a dorm with 5 blokes. There is very little privacy but a wonderful protocol of keeping to one’s self so it is easy to get dressed and undressed in the dark.
Anyway back to the story - when I went back inside to breakfast something had changed. They were no longer nice or annoying men to be kept at arms length - they were fellow pilgrims, in fact just fellow humans, with me, on this journey of life for a short time. Even as I write these words my eyes fill with tears - something has loosened, softened.
I am sitting in a bar (midday break) with music playing (something Spanish) making me want to dance just for the joy of being alive at this time and in this place.
I think we must waste so much energy keeping things inside, tamped down, keeping it together. One of the things I love about the Spanish is that what you see is what you get - sometimes grumpy, frustrated, tired but eventuality nearly always kind, helpful and connected.Read more