A Million Steps by Kurt Koontz

Author:Kurt Koontz [Koontz, Kurt]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Spiritual, Love, Camino de Santiago, A Million Steps, Alcohol Addiction, The Way, Pilgrimage
Publisher: Kurt Koontz
Published: 2013-08-22T22:00:00+00:00

Day 13

Chilly

Day 13 began early on a cool morning. One of my first thoughts was about all the friends I had met along the trail and how many times I was forced to say goodbye. These endings were very difficult but became a frequent reality on the Camino. On my path of life, I am hoping to learn from and practice this lesson. All relationships on the Way, as all relationships in our mortal lives, come to a natural or an unnatural end. Although I may feel regret or loss, my new attitude is to view the time together as a cherished moment in my life instead of tormenting myself with the reality of the inevitable ending.

As I mused on these thoughts the night ended, and watching the earth’s colors change with the sunrise brought me immense happiness. The cold morning began to warm. It suddenly dawned on me that there was only one person ahead of me, Eugina, who I knew as a Camino friend.

Veterans tell me the manner in which a pilgrim walks the Camino has a tendency to mirror that person’s life. Reflecting on that observation, I recognized my lifelong habit of pushing ahead early and reaping the rewards at a later time. In college, my final semester courses consisted of golf, horseback riding, and a sociology 101 class on Marriage and Family. I plowed through my business career, always trying to get ahead, and retired at a young age. I tried to justify walking more kilometers than my peers based on the length of my legs, but the real pattern began long before my arrival in Spain. The rewards were a new flock of friends each day. I learned the trip was not about arriving. It was about living.

With the rays of the sun providing some much-needed heat, the deep bass from a live version of Joe Jackson’s Fools in Love soon lulled me into a trance. I found myself staring at the rolling clouds. The wind was still blowing hard and the sky was in a constant state of change. It took me a while to recognize the abnormality in this scene. Because the Meseta is so flat, the clouds hovered just above the ground. It was like being in a plane and looking out the window the instant before breaking through the cloud cover. With a good heave of my stick, I actually felt like they could have been penetrated.

After walking about 32 kilometers, I found myself near a tiny town looking at the beautiful Albergue Lagarnes. A lone blond-haired woman sat at a bright red table with her feet resting on a matching chair, enjoying a glass of white wine. Eugina was back in my life.

The facility had a wonderful feel, and I was very tempted to call it a day and spend time with her. Unfortunately, it would have made the next day’s walk unbearably long. We did chat for about an hour, and I resumed my walk toward Sahagún.

Throughout the day, my mind was pretty much on autopilot.

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