Today was a 12+ mile day. There was rain in the forecast, so we all had our raingear handy, but it ended up being a cool, and at times sunny day, perfect hiking weather. At first, there were lots and lots of people on the trail, everyone greeting each other with a friendly, “Buen Camino!” But as the day went on, there were fewer fellow pilgrims. By the time late afternoon rolled around, we were walking alone. Because we have a set hotel to go to each night, as opposed to the pilgrims who don’t have a bed reserved and hope to find a cot in an aubergue (group hostel) for the night, we can take our time. And we do! I was in the final three arriving at our hotel tonight—11+ hours after we started walking.
We made lots of stops today—little ones to notice the light through the trees, a particularly beautiful church, a vibrant garden, to gawk at pigs or goats or cows, to greet fellow pilgrims and fall into an easy conversation. We also made several longer stops—one for “second breakfast” at a restaurant along the Way, one at a sacred archeological site, a hilltop fortress, where we wrote and did art, one for a long lunch stop, and one at a park where Brenda loves to sketch.
I love to teach my writing students is about the importance of observation and gathering sensory details, especially unusual, quirky details. Taking the time to jot down the sights, sounds, tastes, and smells of a place enable a writer to compose more vivid writing later. So today, in practicing what I was preaching, I spent a few hours stopping to pull out the little notebook I always carry to take note of what I see (I decided to focus on the visual today). Here are some of the things I noticed:
Two different couples holding hands as they walked the Camino.
A man on a very loud Facetime call (in Spanish) as he continued walking.
Black slugs on the ground. Once I noticed one, I saw ten in a row.
Three young men walking by with music playing.
People taking pictures with selfie sticks off the trail.
A man with tight abs, wearing a bright yellow, green backpack smoking a cigarette as he walked.
Toilet paper hanging on a bush—someone obviously didn’t have a potty pack or a hip, multi-colored pee square to use.
Picnic tables by the side of the path under drooping willow trees.
A woman eating a perfect peach.
A bright pink camouflage-colored backpack.
Hiking pants with a tight elastic butt panel…ooh la la! I saw a few of those.
A woman with skin-tight pink leggings with black underwear showing through from underneath.
A big, completely relaxed dog sprawled out in the middle of the road.
Three of hugest pink pigs I’ve ever seen.
A man with a long white pole sticking out of his pocket. After puzzling over it for a long time, I finally realized it was a collapsible selfie stick.
Lots of cows, tractors and farm equipment.
A farmer and her husband sitting out in their field as the sun began to set.
A pear orchard and a raspberry patch.
Giant metal ant sculptures in a grassy yard.
Many vegetable gardens, one particularly notable for its huge cabbages and giant kale.
Scroll through today’s photo album for more of what we saw (and thanks to Kendra Webster for the great photo editing lesson over lunch). The description of the day continues in the captions under the photographs.
Pilgrims crossing the walls of the archeological site at Castro de Castromaior in Portomarin, Spain
