Dear Camino

Dear Camino,

I honestly don't know where to start. First, you force me to say goodbye to two dear pilgrim friends this afternoon, Red and I sadly watching them go as we pour the remains of our rot gut toasting wine into the weeds. Especially a low blow seeing as though one of the two friends is a cute fella I like (you know who you are...) Then to add insult to injury you stick us in a freezing cold albergue with a coed bathroom complete with urinals so we have to ignore hairy shirtless men peeing as we brush our teeth. THEN, you talk a bird into crapping on my clean hiking pants hanging up on the laundry line. THEN, to top it all off you make my silver filling pop out of my tooth as I'm flossing my teeth. A Spanish dentist? Too far, Camino. Too far. So now I am literally falling apart like some old hand-me-down pilgrim dolly. How very kind of you. Humph.

What I can't seem to understand is why you insist on teasing and trying me in this way. Haven't I been good to you? Don't I constantly spread your good word on my blog? Don't I carry out my used toilet paper instead of leaving it on the trail like other barbarians? Don't I eat your tortilla bocadillos every day with a smile, even though it can't possibly be healthy to consume six eggs a day everyday for a month? Don't Red and I befriend stray animals as they meow and bark at us on empty streets? Didn't I pat the old bearded man who accidentally saw my bum in the albergue a week ago on the back this morning as a gesture of good will? I even went to Sunday mass in one of your Camino churches... only once, but it should count for something, right?!

Look, maybe this is a test. You're good at giving those out. And normally I'm game to follow. I get that we have to say goodbye to people we grow attached to constantly on the trail. Sauce, Taste, Toss. I came up with that motto, remember?! And okay, the bird crap was pretty funny. Good one. Good one. But at least can you please stop the body falling apart gag? From second-degree sunburns to chipped teeth to a tick attack to knee aches to scarred mosquito bites, I think I've had about all I can take. I would like to come home and turn 30 in one healthy, robust, reborn piece. Is that so much to ask?

Here's what I'm offering to settle this recent spat - a good old fashioned pact. I will continue to think only positive thoughts about you and say only kind words about you if you will do the same in turn. Practical jokes are fun, but friends don't mess with a friend's dental hygiene. And friends with you I would like to be.

----------
Made a mistake on yesterday's post. Thought we were in the wrong city! This is what happens to you on the Camino - place and time no longer matter as much as the moment at hand.

So here are the correctly labeled pics from Fromista to Carrion de los Condes to Calzadilla de la Cueza (some provided by Red!)


The first and only climb of the day. I had a cold so it was more grueling than usual. But the view was worth it. And boy is Spanish cold medicine a miracle drug. That stuff would not be legal in the U.S.


Two men selling coffee and bananas for pilgrims at the top.


And us consuming them.








Camino art takes many forms.





Pork and beef for the night's group spaghetti dinner.


Red and I chip in by doing what we do best - pastry selection.





I walk into the albergue to help with dinner and get caught in a blessing. Whoops! Got a beautiful star for my pack to guide my way and a flute serenade by the nuns. Here, a Mountain View girl writes down her hopes for the Camino.


Watching men do dishes is a beautiful thing.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Calzadilla de la Cueza