Before The Beginning

I believe the time leading up to a Camino and the time between Caminos hold as many lessons as the Camino itself. This has certainly been true for me. Last year I needed to stop in the middle of the Camino, and it traumatized me. If it were anyone else, I would say that the Camino is the Camino no matter how much you walk. However, I came face to face with my need to make plans and complete plans. My goal-oriented personality. It threw me for a loop. I wanted to believe it didn't affect me, but it did. So there were lessons to learn from the last Camino.
Then last fall I made my reservations for this year to leave on June 14 for three months. I have found that if I make the reservations, I go. If I don't make the reservations, I can find one hundred and one reasons not to go or to delay going. Things went pretty smoothly. I collected gear, started planning which routes I would take, made arrangements to volunteer at the Pilgrim's Office, etc. I plan to walk the Portugues coastal route, the Sanabres route and the Finisterre/Muxia route. Then I received an opportunity to be a hospitalera in Grado on the first stage of the Primitivo, so I decided to walk the Primitivo instead of the Sanabres. All was going so smoothly. Then my feet started hurting a bit. OK, no need to panic. I went to the podiatrist, orthotics, learned some exercises. So I stopped training and took care of my feet.
On May 25, two different doctors told me I might have multiple life-threatening conditions. I needed a CAT scan, ultrasound, and several tests before they could confirm whether it would be safe for me to go on the Camino. Death and/or delay were not good news. I scurried around getting tests done while the number of days to my departure were rapidly decreasing.
Through all of this, I went about it calmly, realizing there wasn't much I could do to change the situation, other than asking people to schedule the tests stat. By June 3rd it had all piled up, and I didn't sleep well. I woke up crazier than a loon. I didn't know if I was going to have to cancel my trip, postpone my trip, or prepare to die; as if that is possible. Saturday morning I went to the beach and walked with my husband. Well, he picked up trash, and I walked, listened to the waves and my iPod, and took pictures.

When we were back at the car, and I was brushing the sand off my feet, I had this delightful conversation with a young boy about politics. He saw the Bernie sticker on my husband's car and asked if I liked Bernie. I said,"Yes, why?" He said he didn't like Bernie. I queried why. He said he listened to the radio a lot. I asked, what did the radio tell him about Bernie that he doesn't like. He said "Well, he is for saving the environment, and that is good. But he thinks everybody should be paid the same amount no matter how hard they work." I suggested that what he was thinking about was communism and that Bernie was a socialist, not a communist. That he just thinks everyone should make a good living, have health care, food and a decent place to live. He said that sounded ok. He didn't necessarily agree with me, but he was intelligent, thoughtful and articulate. It was the most enjoyable political conversation I've ever had. I can't wait to see how it gets relayed to his parents. lol
I was grateful that I was present to be part of that exchange. It made my day. Heck, it made my week. I got in the car to leave, checked my phone and listened to a message my doctor had left. He said my health was just fine.
So, I am leaving June 14 for Spain. I have rough plans for what happens after the plane lands in Madrid, but I'm going to try to think of them as a loose guideline.