The Camino Part 1

The Camino de Santiago is different for everyone.  We each go our own Way.  Roughly 450 people finish the Camino each day!  We were 4 of those pilgrims on October 21st!  If you had told me in April or even in June that I would be able to walk every one of the 110 kilometers on our Camino, I would never have believed it possible.  It was with incredible pride, awe and exhaustion that we trudged the final kilometers, in pouring rain, to the ultimate finish line at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostella. If you asked me today, "Would you do it again?", in a heartbeat...yes!  Here is why.

We started, as so many do, full of energy, anticipation and curiosity.  There may have also been a bit of trepidation wondering "can we do this?"  Mind you, we chose to walk the last 100 km from Vigo, Spain to Santiago de Compostela, Spain.  The required distance you need to walk to get your Compostella.  Let's just say we chose to do "Camino Light".  We stayed in very nice accommodations, had a service move our bags from place to place and "only" did 100 km.  Like I said, we each go our own Way.  For the 4 of us, this was our Way and among our group there were still 4 different "ways".   We did walk every step of the Way though.

We are ready to walk!

Only 96.4 more kilometers!  Follow the yellow arrows!

We headed out, dark and early (sunrise was at 8:45!), on day 1 to find the Camino.  1.2km, which felt at least like 2 km, up a long hill in Vigo we finally found our first yellow marker and the actual Camino.  We also experience our first act of kindness on the Camino when a woman, who noticed we had passed the Camino, guided us back to the correct street!  Thank you for saving us the extra steps!  We happily marched along enjoying the path.  The views were very nice, we watched Vigo move away from our view and it seemed we did circles around the unique bridge in the distance as it moved from in front of us to next to us to behind us.  We would eventually drive over that same bridge on our way back after our Camino!

The bridge to and from Vigo!
I personally prefer this view to the one driving over the bridge!

Day 1 was full of everything new. Walking through Spanish neighborhoods, observing the landscapes and all the gardens and seeing my first Horreos (the rectangular little grain houses with crosses above the door pictured above).  We walked through the forest, we saw a waterfall, and we walked through countless small villages.  It didn't seem like we saw all that many other pilgrims on our first day.  I was really hoping for the communal feeling I had heard existed on the Camino.  I wondered if being in a close group of 4 would isolate us from others.  Initially, I felt like maybe it had but in hindsight I think we just hadn't gotten into the Camino yet.  We were still wide eyed and new.

Our first day was a long one...16 miles, roughly 25km!  There were a lot of hills!  Nothing like breaking in the feet and legs with a solid first day!  We ended our day in Arcade, called a cab, per our instructions, which came and promptly drove us backwards about 3 miles to our accommodations for the night.  The horror each of us experienced thinking of our trek back to that point was soon soothed when we found out they delivered us to our stopping point the next morning, whew!

The accommodation package I chose was labeled, Country Cottages.  If this was a country cottage, I can't imagine what a country castle looks like!  We drove through a very rough area, up some barely paved roads, up a hill and when we entered the grounds my jaw dropped!  Firstly, the grounds were vast and meticulously manicured, and the house/castle was huge!  When we entered it reminded me of an old castle you would go to for one of those "who done it" mystery nights.  Mr. Green, in the conservatory with the knife.  So old and yet well kept.  Definitely a wedding venue too!

We felt like we had won the lottery.  That night at dinner, we met a group of Pilipino nurses, all from the US, who had gone to school together, many years ago.  They were walking the Camino as well.  Following an even lighter Camino way than we were!  

A lovely view of the grounds from our room!

The entrance!

Wedding reception area

We woke up the next morning with just as much motivation as the first morning.  Plus, we knew this was a shorter day of walking.  Surely it would be easier, right?! Nope!  At least not for me.  It was more fun, if one can possibly have fun while wearing a raincoat, perspiring underneath and starting to feel a few hot spots on my toes from the constant walking.  I stayed positive, what else could I do?  But every hill got harder and longer.  There were a few bright spots along the Way.  The bagpiper was the first!  I could hear him around the corner and was thrilled when I saw him!  Thank you, bagpiper!  I bought my first Camino scallop shell from him.  A little farther up the trail we came upon a fellow selling his wares, he also had water, which was much needed that warm, damp day.  We counted two blessings before we got very far already.  I think our biggest blessing that day was near the end of a bonus route we decided to take through the woods along a stream.  The downside was that it added a few kilometers to our day, the good side was that near the end we found a great spot to sit, take off our shoes and soak our aching feet in some fresh cold water!  It was heaven!

We finally made it to Pontevedra not a moment before it began to rain!  Once again, our accommodations were ancient and castle-like.  The place hosted a mix of bedraggled pilgrims, sharply dressed business people and a smattering of tourists.  This is where we started to see some of the same faces and began finding our Camino friends.  It was my first encounter with Maria and Juan who were fresh off 37 days walking the Camino Frances and decided to do a week on the Portuguese Camino!  She exclaimed in the elevator, "I love the Camino!".  That is a lot of walking!

We did make the mistake that day of skipping lunch on the trail and waiting until we reached our stopping point for the day.  This meant lunch at 2:30 pm and some serious over ordering due to our level of hunger upon arrival.  It also meant that we were not hungry at dinner, but we still needed to eat.  We went to a tapas place, ordered a few tapas expecting tiny portions only to be shocked at the amount of food that landed on our table!  We could not rise to the occasion.  It was also the first place we got drenched in a rainstorm, which became the theme of the rest of our Camino.  

I would follow this arrow anywhere!

Early morning full of hope and beauty!

Adding his eucalyptus bark cross to the fence.

The road was sometimes rocky...and uphill.

This felt sooo great!

Another "country cottage" in the middle of town!

Finding a table under the awning!  
Evening happy hour ritual!

I am pretty sure this was also the day at least 3 of us began to question whether our bodies were really ready for this commitment.  Our toes were beaten and bruised.  We were more than a little concerned about the weather forecast which showed nothing but rain on our horizon.  Two days in and I was wondering where that great Camino experience was?  I passed out moleskin and ibuprophen to everyone and we continued!
 

It Wasn't Supposed to be This Way

 I am beginning to wonder where I actually live...and I think my friends and family are also beginning to wonder the same thing!  This year has been a series of plans made, starts, stops, plans broken, plans re-made and a lot of mending along the way.  You know what they say, "We plan,, and God laughs."  He must be cracking up this year!  I just hope the joke is over for the next month.  That fateful fall on the ski slope in February changed our year's plans which have resulted in a very busy Fall!

After our summer in Nova Scotia, TJ had planned a leaf peeping bike tour in Vermont for the group we fondly refer to as our Red Solo Cup friends.  Eight of us met in Vermont for an Inn to Inn bike tour covering over 100 miles in 4 days.  One (TJ) out of the eight of us is a cyclist!  No problem, right?!  This was going to be the first real test for my knee to see just how strong and stable it really was.  Turns out, it works just fine.  I would say the trip was a great success. Eight people, between the ages of 60 and 70, rode bicycles over 100 miles, without incident or injury and had a great time doing it!  

The Inns were charming, as were their hosts!

We felt, at times, (or maybe it was just me) like we had been dropped into an episode of Gilmore Girls as we stayed in small towns that resembled Stars Hollow with their gazebos in the town squares and the white steeples framed by tree covered mountains.  The main streets were quaint, and each town seemed so small that you just knew everyone knew their neighbors.  It was like riding through a postcard some days.  The leaf color was not at its peak yet when we started, but by the end of the week things were getting a lot brighter. 

Here are a few scenes from along the road...

Waterfall in Brandon, VT  were it all began.

One of the many covered bridges along the way.
Who doesn't love a covered bridge!!!

Plenty of farm stands and country markets with pumpkins
and all things maple!

The British Fort at Crown Point, NY
1760

Love the mountain in the distance poking out of the clouds!
The reason for one of my many, "Photo stop!" cries along the way.

White picket fences, lots of cemeteries and the occasional fall color!

If we saw one, we saw 20, tall white steeples.

Full circle back to Brandon, VT and one of the 
cutest town squares!
Queue to town troubador!

When in Vermont....

This is what we came for!
This, and a lot of great memories with some very good friends!

Once we got back "home" to Houston we shifted gears very quickly and went to our niece's wedding in Virginia.  This wedding has been on the books for a year, so we knew what we were getting into when we scheduled the bike trip so close to the wedding weekend.  What we didn't know when we made these plans way back pre-Feb. 2nd, was that this wedding weekend would not be the end of our travel season but sandwiched between two trips that were originally scheduled 5 months apart instead of two weeks apart.  God is still laughing.  

The wedding was full of family, fun, and lots of love!  The bride and groom were glowing as they made the most of their special day.  We do love a good party, so suffice it to say by the end of the weekend our voices were cracking from all of the talking and our feet were in desperate need of some ice therapy from all of the dancing.  Weekend bonus- all seven Mahoney siblings were together at the wedding and all four of our children/adults were there too!  It was a family frenzy!

And now we are home, once again unpacking, only to repack.  It wasn't supposed to be this way, but it is.  We are finally taking the trip we planned to take last April...instead of having ACL surgery.  Talk about delayed gratification.  I must say planning this trip while doing all of my rehab gave me something to do, something to look forward to and a goal to work towards.  It has served as a giant carrot dangling in front of me, motivating me to get out there and get stronger.  I am not absolutely sure if I am there yet, I am praying for some adrenaline to kick in once we start!  Next week, we will be on the Camino de Santiago, walking our way to Santiago de Compostela.  No, we are not doing the entire Camino!  We will walk the final 100 km of the Portuguese Camino into Santiago de Compostela.  Shoot....if  I can ride a bike 100 miles I should be able to walk 100 km...right?  Stay tuned! 

The Last Week...Already!

 There are things we do up here that we never do at home!  There are things we can't do, things we don't have to do, things we don't have the opportunity to do, things we don't need to do and things we wish we could do.  Last week, as we moved probably the 12th and 13th mattresses of the summer I just had to laugh!  There would never be a 3 month period in my "real" life that I would have moved 13 mattresses!  It just happens to be the summer of the mattress!  In the farmhouse alone we have moved 6 mattresses this summer.  We have a lot of mattresses...plus the new one, which meant a bit of shuffling.  In the cottage we moved in a new one, moved the old one to another bed and moved that one to the curb.  We also helped friend(s) move 4 mattresses.  It was a 13 mattress summer!  We are all sleeping very soundly now...from moving so many mattresses!  Unfortunately, my back is paying for moving so many mattresses.  If it's not one thing, it's another!

One of many this summer.

Back home, at night, we have dinner and then usually watch tv.  We used to go out occasionally...pre 2020, then we just stayed home and watched tv or stared at some other screen.  Up here, we don't watch tv.  We go out!  We go out to other cottages and play games or just chat.  If we stay home we are busy watching the sunset, which for most of the summer comes late and lasts a long time.  Then we sit in the sunroom and talk.  Sometimes we play cribbage while watching the sunset.  Other nights, I catch up on my social media...because I don't do much of that during the day.  I have not watched a show in months!  Not complaining either, but don't ask me about anything on Netflix!  I don't know.  

Netflix North

At home, we go out to dinner at least once a week and sometimes more often.  In the two and a half months I have been up here, I have eaten dinner at a restaurant three times and had lunch out once.  I have however,  cooked A LOT!  I might cook more at home if I had a huge garden out of my backdoor that produced mass quantities of food.  Having so much produce is daunting at times.  Dinner usually consists of whatever was picked that day or whatever is giving us an over abundance.  Tonight we had stuffed peppers, because we had a lot of peppers!  I must say the garden really spoils us, when we go home and bite into produce from the store that is weeks old instead of minutes old we can't help but be very disappointed.  We also have dinner at other cottages.  Communal eating is very common up here!  When our extended families are here, in the busy part of the summer, we ate dinner with our kids and their families every night, as do many other extended families.  Once our kids and their kids leave, the cousins pass the baton for cooking and cleaning until everyone has had their turn.  This is one of the many things I love this about this place.  Maybe I should have lived in a commune.  

TJ, the great provider, in his happy place!

When was the last time you had dinner at home and then decided to just drop in on a friend or a neighbor?  At 8:30 at night.  It happens all the time up here.  I love it when people just show up to visit after dinner and I love it when we are welcomed to do the same!  I am starting to realize this is mostly a summer phenomena, as the days get shorter and the crowd is dwindling, drop-ins and drop-byes are less frequent.  The darkness seems to already be keeping us inside.  

Darkness...let's just consider darkness.  Our dark sky allows us to see so many more stars than ever possible at home.  Again, instead of tv, the night sky provides me with visual entertainment.  I have had a good time experimenting with night photography.  Although for every 10 photos I have taken, I have about one keeper, thank goodness for digital photography!  

Billions and billions of stars!

And that one in a thousand photo!

While there is so much I love about this place there is a lot I love and miss back home.  About this time every year, I watch the sun set farther and farther to the south and my inner migratory soul tells me it is time to go "home".  TJ does not have as strong a pull to home as I do and so he will continue to live his retirement dream and stay a little bit longer.  I will enjoy everything I love about this place for one more week and then this bird will fly south.  The summer was a real treat!  It was full of exactly what we love about summer up here.  We were back...and it felt right!  There were children who experienced the shore for the first time ever and I think they loved it!  To see the love of the shore passed on the yet another generation is heartwarming!  Our grandparents passed the love of this place on to our parents and them to us and we have continued the tradition and I sincerely hope some of them are the ones to pass it all on again!  

I will miss this serene view on my daily walk!

With only 3 more days up here and countless tasks to check off the "to do" list before I go, I decided to mindfully enjoy the day as much as possible.  I won't be walking along this country road with a view of the water for 9 more months, so I took an extra long walk today and soaked it all in.  I won't have those super fresh vegetables for much longer so tonight we had squash, potatoes, peas and tomatoes, all from the garden.  I won't have my favorite room in the world, my sunroom, for much longer so every time I sat down today I made sure to do it in here.  I wonder if everyone experiences this last melancholy week.  My head says to enjoy it for as long as I can but my heart already aches.  "Parting is such sweet sorrow", said some famous British chap.  How can one enjoy what they have and still feel a bit of sadness?  We say goodbye to another summer at the shore.  A summer that is now a unique part of history.  While it did feel "normal", it wasn't quite there yet.  There were still people we missed who couldn't make it up this year for one reason or another.  Seems there is always a slightly different crowd every year.  This isn't the easiest place to get to, which means everyone can't come every year.  Each year is unique in some ways and the same in many ways, which is part of its allure.  Au revoir, arrivederci, adios, so long, farewell...until we meet again.

These are a few of my favorite things....

Goodbye fresh bounty!

Goodbye beautiful flower boxes

Goodbye scenic drive from Pugwash

Goodbye cousins!

 

Goodbye sandbar walks

Goodbye perfect beach days

Goodbye farmhouse

Goodbye Canada

And Just Like That

 The last time I slept in my house alone was on June 17th.  Since then my life, and house, have been filled with one and then 3 more and then 3 more and then one more and then 3 more, until dinner on August 2nd, when we had all four kids and 5/6 grandchildren at the dinner table!  The hoops that had to be jumped through for this happen were not insignificant.  Turns out this is not an easy place to get to, especially this summer.  Beginning on August 3rd, the house started to empty slowly and steadily until a couple of weeks ago, when TJ headed to Cape Breton and I was alone in my own house for the first time in 7 1/2 weeks.  This may not seem like a big deal to many of you, but as one tired but happy Gigi, Mom and wife...I embraced this time.  My battery needed some serious recharging. 

The first time in 5 years all 4 kids have been at the shore...at the same time.
It was a brief overlap, but it happened!

Seems a theme of the summer, for my peer group, has been living life as a member of the "sandwich generation".  Many of us still have living parents, some were here this summer, but lately fewer and fewer are able to make the trip.  While I am not the caretaker of my mother, I do think about her daily and there is that constant concern...albeit from afar.  Many of my peer group have much closer and "hands on" experiences with their parents.  We also have grown kids who are married and now have families of their own.  One of the reasons we shared this special place with our families is that we hoped some day they too would share it with their children.  And now they have!  What this translates into as far as shore life is we find ourselves being pulled in many directions.  As if shore life didn't offer enough directions to be pulled in already!

One of the results of having our families here though is that for part of the summer, we are busier than a person should be...on vacation.  Of course, at this point, those of us who spend months up here can hardly be considered "on vacation".  We are just living life in a different location. (more on that subject in a later post) In the early weeks, we spend time with our friends and relatives for dinner and sit on the beach or porches at night and enjoy the quiet easy life.  Once our families arrive, we all retreat to our own family vortexes.  Our time is spent enjoying the days and nights with our kids and grandchildren.  There just aren't enough hours in the day or energy to venture too far from the immediate family, especially when you only get to be with your immediate family two or three times a year!  These are precious moments!  Still, I can't help but want to hang out with everyone on the beach!  We do have fleeting moments spent catching up with various people along the beach, but really when family is here, we are doing family time, as are all the other families.

So, when I found myself in my house, alone, with all the time I needed or wanted to go and make those outside connections, I retreated inside for a day or two instead.  I just needed to let the dust settle (sweep it all up) and first connect with myself before I connected with anyone else.  Transitions.  Sometimes they take a day or two.  Now we are back to the slower, steadier, part of the summer where hanging out with my cousins and our shore friends is routine.  The summer definitely has several stages, as I have said before.

Lately, with the sun moving slowly across the horizon and the days getting noticeably shorter I find myself wondering how it all went by so fast!  I am overwhelmingly thankful for the gift of being able to spend months up here again after one year away and last year only being here for a comparatively short time.  It feels like "normal"!  I have been able to see the many colors of the wildflowers from the purples and pinks of the lupins in June, to the hot pink flames of the fireweed in July to the white Queen Anne's Lace and now the yellow ragweed and gold wheat fields.  Summer is brief and glorious up here!  

June

July into August

July

August

August...a hint of fall is in the air by now.

The pattern of life at the shore follows the seasons.  Early summer when nature is still waking up, the population gradually grows as well.  Once July hits and summer is in full bloom, the sun shines from 5 a.m. until 10 p.m. the shore crowd grows to maximum capacity and life is crammed full.  In August, as the sun moves slowly across the horizon and daylight hours begin to shorten, people start to go back home to their real lives and the beach crowd gets older...because all the families with kids have to leave for school.  I have missed this visible transition over the last couple of years.  Seasons don't change as dramatically in the south.  Life mimicking nature makes me feel very connected...possibly one of the things I love the most about this place. 

I still have high hopes of writing more, once I find myself with hours of time to spare.  Fat chance!  The ideas are there, plenty of photos to back up those ideas too.  Inevitably doing other things and actually living the life I write about takes priority.  There will be time...someday.   For now I will just keep enjoying nature and watching the colors change.

June 2022
About as far over the water as we get to see.

July 2022, the sun is making its move to the left over the land.

August 2022
Moving farther and farther along the horizon....

One more sign of time marching on.....the garden!

June 2022 garden of possibilities

July garden is starting to pop

August garden!  We need more people to help eat!

I just love this!

And just like that, only 3 more weeks left up here.  It happens every time!  Enjoy these final few days of summer, we certainly will!