On the cold way from Colemar Viego continued -some photos
O k -Por que estoy caminando .Why am I walking??
Day 1 23/3/2018 22.2 km
First day of the Camino Madrid -from train ride to Colemar de Viego to Manzaneras el Real.Cheating ,but it was a hard first day anyway .Walked from Petrus Albergue in outer Madrid ,to the metro and bought a ticket by Cercernaris to Colemar,
Not as clever as I thought as train dropped us off at station which initially seemed in the middle of nowhere ,and there was a 2 km uphill walk to find the arrows for the exit from the town .As usual there were several starts ,but eventually located the first arrow in front of the old church ,via a series of roadworks and potholes .A very pretty church ,was hauled in by the old man who was looking after it to sign our credentials ,plus a long monologue on the town and the pilgrims who have passed through,We were itching to get going now especially as the sky was looking increasingly grey ,the wind harsher and some threatening drops of what seemed like sleet or snow .But he was a kind and gentle old man who obviously spent most of his day in the old church waiting to tell visitors about this beautiful old church and its stories .He stamped our credentials ,or passeportes ,once again and we were off ,
After an hour walking the wind became increasingly cold and hard ,and the arrows increasingly elusive ,appearing in unexpected places .Probably it was getting used to the arrow chase again. Stumbling over rocks .no sense of where the path was heading .An old bridle path and sometimes Roman,Snow threatening now ,and hard walking against the wind
Why am I walking in 5-8 degrees in rain and cloud and an evil wind ?Why heading to a place I dont know ,to a bed (hopefully ) somewhere ,following yellow arrows which shift position or disappear? This camino seemed a good idea 2 weeks ago -always forget the weather inclemencies ,the uncertainties and the anxieties of walking .
Camino lovers would say that the camino throws up the problems one needs to confront.Do I go along with this ? I do believe that as one moves from the certainties and fabric of the everyday with its routines ,jobs, conflicts ,relationships,and are separated from anyone to blame ,there is only self left .Self with minimal baggage ,moving slowly on 2 legs ( or a bike or horse I guess)across a landscape which is at times beautiful but also quite stark ,sometimes quite ordinary ,often positively confronting .Stone walls and blackberry bushes ,mud, lean toos ,cows placidy grazing ,dogs guarding run down small holdings ,men and women working land .
The thing is I am not even sure of where I will end up tonight ,or where I will stay or even of the way itself.
Salud,with cafe con leche safely in Madrid the day before the start ,!Im not always drinking wine you see
Standing outside the church in Colemar Viego ,a grey cold day at the start of the walk .
HA !the first flecha,we found it after wandering in circles for a while
Getting ready to walk again -Rocky Bay North Fremantle to Camino Madrid
Three sleeps to go ,and plane to Madrid .Am determined this time round to keep a coherent and meaningful account of the walk/experiences /thoughts along the way .At this stage will just put my photo up from a practice walk this morning ,complete with sticks and pretty ugly hat .In front of Rocky Bay ,North Fremantle ,a magic spot in itself as this is where the Rainbow Serpent rested on its way along the coast
Esperanza
Source: Espenranza
Will I too lie in this Graveyard ? Un
Will I too lie in this graveyard
Forgotten
My ashes merged with loamy earth
Next to someone else’s headstone?
Unnamed
Sun shining on daisies and
buttercups
Wind wheezing between graves
Clouds forming
Rain falling
Weather uncertain
A walker passing by may pause
to read the inscription
chiselled in the stone
Then stumble on some tufts of grass
shorter than the rest
Surmise that ashes still lie
in that bare patch
The assorted photos are a mix of some of the grave sites and memorials I have walked past or visited .Some are from Spain ,sometimes huge headstones to individuals or memorials to heros in the Civil War alongside statues of saints and poets.The Chinese memorial is to the General who in 1659 lost the great city of Xian to the Qing army ,and burnt himself to death.Some are nearer home culturally –the barrows of 5,500 years ago ,in the Cotswold Hills .The photo with the bluebells is next to a family grave in a churchyard in Bath ,Somerset .
I searched my photos to find a photo of the graveyard which inspired this poem.But my memory was wrong , I didnt use my camera there .The image is clear in my head : a site I tripped over a few times while exploring the graveyard at St Marys ,Prestbury village .I visited my uncles grave with my aunt ,his wife .He has a name and a plaque.But near him was a bare patch ,where maybe once upon a time there had been a small stone .Now no name, no marker.
During my times in Cheltenham a favourite walk was from my aunts house ,across the Cheltenham Racecourse through the fields ,and then a cut through the graveyard to reach the village pub in Prestbury .There, opposite the little church .we drank our cider.
Sambasue21 