May 10, 2025

Waking up by the Ocean

When I looked out the upstairs window of Hostel Marejada, the sea was close and gray. A man was throwing a stick for his dog along the shore, and the half dozen other pilgrims in my room were quietly packing up. I must have been the last one sleeping, because when I sat up in the squeaky top bunk, the room filled with pleasant, morning conversation all at once. I said goodbye to my friends Endre and Nelli; they were walking all the way to Villaviciosa today, and I was planning to take a rest day. They assured me that I would have a place to stay if I ever came to Quebec or Switzerland, and I told them the same of Tennessee.

Downstairs there was a breakfast for the pilgrims, but the electric had gone out and there was no milk, light, or coffee. The hostel owner appeared in his nightdress and performed some magic in a back room, and presently the table was laughing and chattering in French and Italian. The owner gave me fifty cents for the cappuccino machine because I had only forty.

After breakfast I wandered along the coastline wherever my feet followed. I sat for a time on the rock in front of the hostel, gazing out upon the one-eyed rock island, praying.

The sky colored the sea like an oil painting. It must have been low tide, for my boots made only light tracks the firm sand beneath the hollow rocks.

I meandered among the tide pools, watching as little creatures scuttled about on important business. Every now and then a black skimmer flew by.

Halfway There

The halfway point on the Camino del Norte is considered to be somewhere between Llanes and Villaviciosa. However, today, Day 20, was my personal halfway point since I started the journey on April 20th.

As I reflected on the physical distance I had traveled so far, I thought also of the mental and emotional ground I had covered. I could feel my heart again, like a flower that finally reached the sun after striving for sunlight amidst a forest of broad-leaved forbs trying to choke it out. My roots had found rich, peaty soil to grow deep in. Little by little and almost without my knowing, each step was unworking years of fears and superficialities. My heart felt warm and real again, not rushed and hurried.

“He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul…”

Psalm 23:2b-3a

Although I intended for today be a rest day, my feet were yearning to keep traveling. So, I decided to walk slowly and not worry about getting to a certain destination. I would stop where I stopped.

The sky began to clear, and the morning filled with birdsong. I stopped for a minute and made an incidental eBird checklist of all the birds I could hear and see: Eurasian magpie, long-tailed tit, Eurasian blackcap, Eurasian blackbird, European robin, European goldfinch, and European serin.