Greetings from Santiago de Compostela. Tam and I walked the Camino, the historic pilgrimage to Santiago, from Pamplona–with help of a bus ride from Burgos to Leon to repair my feet. We hiked 520 kilometers. I swear, I’ve hiked my whole life and have run half my adult life, and I have never had blisters the likes of those I grew on the Camino.
Peligrinos on this road often have loftier goals than merely walking the Camino. They talk about wanting insights, resolution, epiphanies. My mind was filled with thoughts of blisters, and I found that the venerable limerick form best conveyed my elevated reflections:
80 mgs
Opined a supine peligrino,
“Comidas, cervezas y vino
Are all one takes
To ward off the aches
Por hacer un buen camino.”
True. I, to make my heart glad, will
Swallow ‘n swill as much as a lad will.
But for ankles that swell
And blisters from hell,
I also gobbled fistfuls of Advil.
Ode to Blisters
(A Pilgrim Dresses his Feet in a Moment of Tranquility)
As the billows of summer will prompt the imagination
With images of animals, profiles, the shape of a nation,
Underfoot–a similar game;
The images–not the same:
The face of Satan! South America! Conflagration!
We’re planning a trip to Arizona and California beginning August 6 or 7. I’ll keep you posted on those travel plans.
Food, beer and wine – Oh My!
If that were all it does take,
then Salud! y hecho un buen comida.
Can’t wait to see you guys. Ali says you’ll be back in Cuidad del Albuquerque on the 15th, so when will you be in California?
-Clint