Here is something else I am learning on the Camino de Santiago: Snoring is an art! There are many different ways to snore. So far with my roomies I have identified the following types of snoring:
The chainsaw snorer. His goal is volume! He doesn’t really care about anything beyond that. Style points don’t matter to him. His goal is for it to be loud and long!
The squeaker. How do you snore out a squeak? I don’t know. But some people have mastered the the squeaky snore - probably some dainty lady from Paris.
The puff snorer. They let out a puff and that’s it. I keep waiting for the rest of the snore, but all that follows is another puff! Puff. Silence. Puff. Silence. Kind of fascinating actually!
The “growl, pssst.” Last night I was also intrigued with a very creative type of snore. In fact, I spent some waking hours analyzing this snore, and trying to figure out how to describe it to you. The first part is easy to describe. It sounds like a growl. So imagine a large dog with a vicious growl for about two seconds. But then the last part of the snore is the sound that I couldn’t figure out how to describe to you. And then it finally occurred to me that maybe it sounds like compressed air that is in a WD-40 can, or hairspray. When you push the button to make the hairspray or whatever, come out, there’s a little noise that sounds like pssst. Do you know what I’m talking about? So this snore started with a growl and then it ended with a little pssst. Growl, pssst. Growl, pssst. And since I had 23 roomies last night, I couldn’t exactly identify the source, but I think it was coming from a female. Growl, pssst.
The “Is he dying?” This is the snorer who goes after it, and then doesn’t breathe again for about 45 seconds. Just when you are ready to do mouth-to-mouth on them, they make up for lost time and belt out another snore that is impressive and causes you to say, “Whew, thank the Lord!” But then you get back in your bunk and there is a long silence. You run back to them just in time to have them belt out another one. This type of snoring is most annoying - you stay awake the first part of the night worrying that they might die on you. And then the next part of the night you spend timing them to see what is the longest they hold their breath. And then the last part of the night you just spend praying that they would go see Jesus. I think they call that sleep apnea. I just call it annoying.
The choking snore. This is the one I enjoy the most. They snore, choke and cough. All night long, snore, choke and cough. Snore, choke, cough. If I had some cough medicine I would pour it down their throat - I’m sure that would take care of the cough.
One final observation. I may not have earned the right to make this judgment yet, but I feel like I’m getting close. But I believe as a whole, men would probably have the advantage when it comes to snoring. But I don’t believe the ladies have to hang their heads in defeat, because some of them are very talented and aren’t far behind the men! And now you know all about the snoring that takes place with my roommates on the Camino de Santiago! 😆
Now let me talk about the trail today. As usual it was a pre-dawn start for me. The Albergue where I stayed actually included a breakfast with the 14-euro charge for the bed. But they didn’t begin serving until 7 o’clock— by that time I’m ready for lunch. So I left the hostel and went out into the darkness alone to begin my walk. Immediately I noticed a beautiful fireworks/lightning show that God had provided for me on the horizon. The lightning was impressive! But I’ll admit that it did worry me just a little bit. I hoped that it would stay in the distance. But the farther I walked, the thunder got louder, and the lightning got closer. Then the rain began to fall. Now mind you, in my research about the Camino, I had read that you must go prepared for rain on the Camino. That’s part of life on the trail. But so far I had had such amazing weather. When it began raining, it definitely not only dampened me, but it dampened my spirits. I put on my Sea to Summit poncho that covers not only me, but also covers the pack that I am wearing. As I kept walking, it was a little bit unnerving, because the lightning was pretty close. One jagged streak of lightning lit up everything around me, and there was the immediate clap of thunder. But what could I do? There was nowhere to escape the storm, so I kept on trudging. To open my heart, I just have to say that I was a little discouraged. Even though I knew this was part of life on the Camino, it wasn’t pleasant. But as I was walking along in that storm, still in darkness, except when the lightening would briefly show the terrain, all of a sudden up ahead, I saw a profile of something. As I got closer, I realized it was a cross. I tried to take a picture of it in the dark.
But I begin to think about the cross. In itself, the cross really has no power, though some people have made the cross into an idol. The significance behind the cross is what really matters. The cross represents the biggest storm that has ever come to earth. It was a storm Jesus had to walk through. And just as I was walking through my storm alone, on a much more significant and eternal level, Jesus was walking through that storm alone. His disciples had abandoned Him. His Heavenly Father had also turned His back on Him, essentially saying, “Son, you’re going to have to go through this one alone.” And Jesus did go through it alone! It was a horrible storm. It was a dark storm. It lasted for three days. But something happened on that third day! The storm subsided. And the “Son” came out - the Son of God came out of the tomb. And that gave hope to all of us walking in a storm.
I processed all of this as I walked alone through the rain and the lightning and the thunder. I began to pray for some of you who are in a storm. I prayed God would give you peace. And I promise you that someday the sun will shine again in your life. Today for me, the sun began to shine about 5 hours after the first rain drops started falling. Your storm may be way bigger than mine and may take longer to get through. But just as that cross alongside the trail gave me hope in my little storm on the Camino de Santiago, the cross also gives you hope in your storm on your camino. Today was one of those days where God came and walked with me - I said I was alone, but I really wasn’t. He came to me in the storm and walked with me. When I got to my hostel, I was covered with mud, but what an incredible day of walking with the One who calms our storms! I went from tears to praises and back to tears and back to praises. If you are in a storm, let the cross remind you that the sun/Son will shine again!
Bridge of the Queen
That’s my trail!
My upper room for tonight. I was definitely due for a laundry day after the rain and mud! I don’t think there’s any way my shoes will dry by morning. 🥴
Approximate total miles - 560
Approximate miles walked today - 13
Approximate miles remaining - 491