So we’ve reached the town with the beautiful name: La Magdalena. Lots of Magdalenas and Marias and Nuestra Senoras (Churches, sanctuaries, caves) dedicated to the mother of Jesus on this Olvidado.

I wonder about the people who walked here so long ago, who lived and worked in these villages, and also, of course, those who are passing through now. Including us. How will we be remembered? Who will remember us? Who do we remember?

There’s a linking of the past and present, the known and the unknown on these caminos. A Re- membering, the term used by the Australian therapist, Michael White. Re -membering, the core of White’s Narrative therapy, is a special kind of recollection which gathers together the people who belong or belonged to one’s life: their stories, their influences are reorganised to strengthen a view of oneself (White describes the”thickening “of “ preferred identity”).

There’s a lot of “ones”there, a lot of self. But walking for a longish time, each day, is about self. Me Me Me. Or I wouldn’t be writing this.

But this is not entirely a remembering. It’s also an imagining and inventing. Because I often don’t know who once lived in the houses and buildings I pass. I only catch a glimpse of the present inhabitants as I walk anyway. But it’s fascinating to interpret their stories from my present identity, sometimes merging them with my own.

So life is re examined; memories emerge from the mass of stored information we carry with us in our heads. Images flash before us, some stay awhile, others are pushed aside again and covered over.But many, phoenix-like, burst momentarily , vividly, into life.

And for what purpose ? I’m not clear about that. Only for myself, me again, there’s a renewal of sorts, a celebratory tinge to life as lived, and a re purposing . Maybe its the sense of all those people not so very different to me – they made shelter and food, worked, formed friendships, loved and created. Maybe, just maybe, something of their lives lingers here on this Forgotten Path. They are remembered .