Day 32 - Grañon to Tosantos - August 16
Beautiful morning coming out of Grañon. The sunrise was soft colors of pink and purple which reflected on the ground. And the hills were blanketed in sunflowers. I got word yesterday that a friend of mine had died. Her name was Nancy also. She was not a close friend, but I loved her spirit. She liked trying new things. One day I met her on the street and she and another woman were coming from some sort of dance class. She said her goal was to try all of the activities the village had to offer. She was a talented artist and we were often in the ceramics studio at the same time. She had a wonderful smile and a great sense of joy. So in all the beauty of the morning I saw Nancy.
Shortly after this soft memory we had some drama trauma. In the next village I passed through there must have been a festa because there were a bunch of drunken young people. Now this wasn't my first rodeo with drunken young people the morning after festas, but there was something about these drunks. They were standing in the street harassing the pilgrims as they walked by. When I got to where they were, one of the guys held up his hand and told me to stop. Then he said something about my hair and I was trying to get by him when I felt something tugging on my pack. I realized some was messing with the bears. I yelled "HEY!!!" And swung around with my poles up and ready. I was about to whack him one. He didn't have a bear in his hand, so I moved away far enough to check my pack and the bears. They were still there but Mr. Berry was hanging tenuously from his pocket. We were all traumatized, but physically unharmed.
From there on the hike was uneventful. I stopped in. Belorado for lunch and they were preparing for a festa. Thank goodness that town is behind me. One of the frustrating things is my inability to capture the grandeur of the landscapes. There is just one breathtaking vista after another. It's really a shame I cannot show you what my eyes are seeing.
I made it to Tosantos and got my own little mat. The bears are still a little raw from the trauma but I think a good night's sleep will calm their nerves. This evening a woman from the village took us up the hill, yeah that's what I thought, after walking all day I want to go walk in the hills. Hehehe. But it wasn't too bad. And the cave was very interesting. It is a chapel to the Virgin of Peña. I guess like Buddha there are many forms of the virgin. Who knew? After years of being Catholic and even teaching CCD, this was news to me. I'm still not sure I got it right. But this cave was excavated and made into a chapel in the 16th century. And, if there is a priest in the village he is allowed to use it to say mass for the pilgrims. At one time a monk lived up there and there was a convent of Benedictine nuns in the village who taught the children at a school in the cave complex
Nina and her dog Hector are still put here with us. Hector has his own tent and when he can't stay in the albergue, he sleeps in the yard in his tent. Michael's wife is meeting him in Burgos Sunday. We are all staying in the same hotel so I will get to meet her. I now have a new pilgrim family, which will change again, when I stop walking to be a hospitalera in Bercianos. I love the fluidity of the Camino. I've learned something about being a hospitalera who makes it easy for someone to help. Maria here at Tosantos does it beautifully. I met another Maria here who just finished being a hospitalera in Najera. She lives in the Basque Country and speaks English very well, as well as Spanish and Basque.
I've also learned in the last couple of night's if I'm ever involved in the evening prayer or reflection to keep it brief and to not lecture. But more will be revealed. I like what I have learned about sharing my experience and nothing more. I use to presume what God meant to you, how God should manifest in you life, what and how we share certain ideas, failings, desires, etc. as human beings. I try not to do that today. I barely understand what the Camino means to me, how it has worked in my life, what I have found here, etc. I have no idea what it means or how it works for anyone else. I suspect it all works exactly as it is suppose to for each of us.
Well I think that's all for now. The bears and I wish you sweet dreams.
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