quiet day
after several days & nights of conversations & interactions with other pilgrims, the night in a private room was a welcome reprise. i slept really well, got up late, enjoyed the desayuno prepared by laura, who also checked me in yesterday and runs the wine shop on top of everything. what else does she do?
i leave nájera behind and begin the first climb of today on what feels to me is going to be a quiet day.
i intentionally packed away the earpods, no music needed. if i want any, there are plenty of songs and lyrics to recall from my brain.
and there is birdsong all around me.
i return to my inner conversation. i’m here, not ahead, not looking back either. turning from external to internal, intentionally changing the perspective.
there are a few greetings along the way of familiar faces. but despite dozens of pilgrims on this pleasant hike over the alto de nájera, then to azofra, and up another hill to cirueña, despite the carretera next to the camino, it is quiet around me and in me.
eventually my auditory cortex awakes and i’m humming the musical hook of a karnivool song, inaudible to all around me, audible to me. not sure which song it is, but it is from their new record ‘in verses’.
… feeling alone in a crowded place …
i like the song. i may be in a crowded place on the camino frances - there are certainly less-walked routes - i don’t feel alone though, even if i don’t talk to anybody today.
the path goes up for a good stretch to the mundane and deserted golf course in cirueña.
then the views open up towards my goal for today: santo domingo de la calzada.
the last stretch goes downhill through wheat fields, then through the suburbs of the town along a pedestrian-only street, past a cistercian monastery to one of the largest albergues on the camino.
164 beds. and they are going to be filled tonight, i’m quite sure.
a few clouds in the distance.
as i write this, sitting on the plaza under cover with a pedazo de tortilla and a limonada, there is a bit of rain. looks like i will have time for a nice afternoon siesta today. but only after the chores of pilgrim’s life - today is washing day. ropa and myself included, of course.
no sightseeing required when it involves getting wet. but maybe an early dinner later, while you all are reading this.
by the way - good news along the way today. the municipal albergue in nájera did eventually open. and i could not detect any unusual smells from the other pilgrims today, so the water supply must have been restored successfully yesterday.
