Salas

So many more people on the Primitivo, more than the Norte and more than I expected. It seems likely that I'll be able to see someone else for most of the day while walking, although today I stole away to use some other smaller (if perhaps longer) tracks I could see on the map. Took an hour's lunch break under the shade of an oak tree, and could watch other pilgrims in the valley trogging along a horrid hot road, and felt pretty smug. One local lady stopped her car and tried to convince me to go back the other way: she didn't like it all that I insisted on continuing! But another man who was working in his garden and greeted me, to question my path, accepted my halting Spanish explanation that 'este camino es mas bonito': 'this path is more beautiful!'

But in general this route is much more rural than so far, with proper footpaths and tracks through woods, alongside streams and rivers, through hamlets and villages, as well as the town roads, unavoidable as they lead to the hostels. Birdsong all day, frequent river noise and no traffic noise at all. Lots and lots of flowers, with new ones for my collection again and again. Sharp-eyed flower-spotter I am!

All delightful and charming.

Today my back went into spasm so I'm feeling fragile. Need to sleep properly again tonight.

I still have little clarity about the 'why' of this pilgrimage, and I'm going to try a different tack from now on.
I'm going to open The Noon Meditation Room every day at 12noon and 5pm UK time, if anyone would ever like to join me. It's just a zoom space for 20 minutes of silence, which you can use in any way you wish such as meditation, reading, praying, journalling, painting... Up to you! I created TNMR during lockdown and we have a great little community that still meets, both for meditation and for a monthly 'spirituality' book club. And a creative writing group has been started up by one of the members too! Let me know if you would like to join in (any of the above); we have a whatsapp group for the zoom links.

Love y'all!Read more