Many of you have asked where the picture was taken at the head of this blog. It was taken a year ago at The End of the World, Finesterre, Spain. This was the end of the earth as the ancients knew it, a spit of land in Northern Spain reaching out into the Atlantic Ocean. This was the last day of our pilgrimage along El Camino de Santiago de Compostela (The Way of Saint James in a Field of Stars). The Camino follows the lay lines of the earth and is directly under the Milky Way so is assumed to have great power. Pilgrims have walked the path to Santiago since the Middle Ages, some to expiate a great crime with iron chains in penance but most for a miraculous cure. Even today, they come in droves with a cause, each working something out in their minds or bodies. Each hoping for redemption or reprieve. I also came with a cause. It was five months after I had been given the clear sign from my second bout of cancer and I needed to do something challenging and maybe find my own little miracle.
We set out in a group of seven, Don, Debbie, Kathy, Glenda, Nora, Julie and me. We were pilgrims on the road to glory, hiking across the Pyrenees through ancient chestnut and oak trees, through old half-deserted towns built entirely of stone, sleeping in monasteries and hostels, eating the meals of the peregrinos and meeting people from all parts of the world and from all walks of life. We had learned the James Taylor song, "Walk Down That Lonesome Road' and made more than one peregrino cry with our evening renditions. When we finally reached Santiago we had tears in our eyes because of the grandeur and the thoughts of all the pilgrims who had arrived here throughout the ages. From there we went to the end of the world.
On our last night together we gathered in one room to each reveal a revelation we had along the way. Three hours later we went to bed looking down on the lights of the town shining on the water and up at the stars of the Milky Way.
Tomorrow I make my pilgrimage to the hospital for my last session of chemo. My journey to this point was every bit as challenging and meaningful as The Camino. It's a little miracle in itself. She'Dae
