Bread of Life

 wheat growing on the Camino

 after leaving Pamplona, en route for Alto del Perdon

1. "I am the bread of life.
Those who come to me shall not hunger.
Those who believe in me shall not thirst.
No one can come to me
Unless the Father draw them.

Refrain:
And I will raise you up, and I will raise you up,
And I will raise you up on the last day."

~Sister Suzanne Toolan

I am a very 'lapsed' Catholic. 
But seeing wheatfields and vineyards 
always reminded me of the Eucharist I shared as I grew up. 
And I knew some longing as I walked...

Colour

between Villamayor de Monjardin and Los Arcos

 "Why do two colors, put one next to the other, sing? 

Can one really explain this? No."

~Pablo Picasso

The morning I walked towards Torres del Rio, the colours in the landscape were magnificent. I have not managed to capture the magic of it all with the camera, - I don't know how to allow for heat haze. But all those I met walking seemed very happy and content, full of the joy of the palette we were walking through. Special memories.

The mountain seems small...

 nearing the top of O'Cebreiro, and entering Galicia

“Sometimes that mountain you've been climbing

is just a grain of sand
What you've been out there searching for forever

is in your hands
When you figure out love is all that matters after all
It sure makes everything else seem so small “

~Carrie Underwood

Two fellow pilgrims doing a 'happy dance' on reaching the top of O'Cebreiro. The woman in the grey-blue t-shirt is from Oz- and I enjoyed meeting her quite a few times en route- she was always kind, no matter how tired she was. 

The Answer to what?

 

 the last stage of the climb to Alto del Perdon

 
“O Deep Thought computer," he said, "the task we have designed you to perform is this. We want you to tell us...." he paused, "The Answer."
"The Answer?" said Deep Thought. "The Answer to what?"
"Life!" urged Fook.
"The Universe!" said Lunkwill.
"Everything!" they said in chorus.
Deep Thought paused for a moment's reflection.
"Tricky," he said finally.
"But can you do it?"
Again, a significant pause.
"Yes," said Deep Thought, "I can do it."
"There is an answer?" said Fook with breathless excitement.
"Yes," said Deep Thought. "Life, the Universe, and Everything. There is an answer. But, I'll have to think about it."

 from 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'

~Douglas Adams

The wide open spaces, the huge skies, walking along step after step- there was room on the Camino to think about the world and my place in it, my loved ones, what it was all about...

Walking Joy

 Now shall I walk
or shall I ride?
"Ride," Pleasure said:
"Walk," Joy replied.
~W.H. Davies

I've had the joy of walking over the Aubrac Plateau twice. This photo was taken on the second day of the crossing in 2012. The weather was brilliantly fine- almost too hot! Four years previously, in 2008, we'd been advised to walk on the road rather than the Chemin because of heavy rain the previous day. Even on the road, which runs at a slightly lower altitude than the Chemin, it was very cold, and the fog soon came thickly down. I could barely see my hand in front of my face. So imagine my joy walking this route again under clear sunny skies, where I could see all the views. I felt like I was on top of the world, close to heaven!

Strangely enough though, my joy was all the greater because I had walked the route twice- the first time in awful weather.