A little more than two weeks to go!

I am getting so excited!  I am SO ready to get on the plane and get going!  Just a few last minute but HUGE things to resolve and I will be ready to let go and let God!  That ability of the Camino to purge your mind and heart of all the petty stuff that fills your days is calling me right now.  I took a long walk yesterday all by myself (my husband and I have been walking together most every evening).  The early morning was beautiful and the day fresh.  It can be difficult to figure out how to carve out the time to both walk in preparation and to take the time away from a busy, demanding schedule--but then there is never a great time to do it, is there?  There will always be temptations to put it off, to never getting around to it.  So much of life can be frittered away by dreaming but never moving into action.  I cannot think of anything of value that does not come with a cost of some sort.

Many, many years ago, we were engaged in negotiations over the price of a house.  We were $500 or $1,000 apart.  A wise friend told us:  "over the time you will live in this house--which you have already said you love, is it worth the money to lose it?"  So often there is a cost to walk the Camino--and I am not talking about money (although there is that too!).  There is the cost of time, of energy, of saying goodbye to loved ones and careers for a little while, the cost of taking a risk when you do not know how this will affect/change your life. of letting go so that you can open yourself to what will be, and then, of course, the cost of returning.

The pack is packed.  I have labeled my camera.  Esentially I am taking exactly what I took last time with the exception of deleting very lightweight fleece leggings, replacing my wonderful hiking sandals with Croc sandals, and taking one extra pair of shorts & underwear because we will have to stay in a few hotels where drying overnight could be an issue.  We will be further south than the French Route so I am hoping that it will be dependably warmer--oh, oh!  Probably shouldn't be tempting the weather makers right now should I?  Those of us in Maryland (this is a diverse group including one from New Hampshire and someone I met on the Camino Frances from Canada!) will be walking this Saturday with everything we are taking.  Hopefully the hurricane will slow down a little and give us a pleasant morning!

I am a little nervous about the responsibility of taking so many people with me.  But since we are taking a route I have not yet taken, we are all new pilgrims on the Way.  I can truthfully say "I don't know!"  May God grant us patience and compassion for one another and give us the grace to rejoice daily that we have bodies and minds able to encounter this journey in all its fullness.