I was locked in! I couldn’t believe it, but I was locked in my hostel. I had gone through my pre-walk routine, which takes a bit of time because of the effort I am putting into foot care. As I researched the common issues on the Camino de Santiago prior to beginning, probably the top issue encountered by pilgrims is blisters. In fact, already, I have come across several people that are suffering with painful blisters, and are hobbling along. So I went to my good friend Kevin at Evans pharmacy and asked him what he recommended. He gave me some salve to apply to pressure points, as well as areas that might develop hotspots. Part of my pre-walk routine is to lather those areas with the salve and so far, thank the Lord, I’m blister free. But I’m not out of the woods yet - other pilgrims say that they can develop even 2 to 3 weeks into the trail.
I was ready to go - I had my backpack strapped on, I had my trekking poles in my hands, my headlamp on my forehead, and was headed towards the main door of the hostel. But when I got there, it was locked. I thought, “How dare you? How dare you lock in the pilgrims that like to leave early!”
I kept thinking surely I must have just been missing it. There had to be a way to unlock the door. I would back off and then go and study it again. Honestly, I just wanted to kick the door down. But it was one of those medieval style doors that was about 20 feet tall and made of solid wood about 10 inches thick, reinforced with iron. (See yesterday’s post for a photo of the albergue’s gates before they were closed for the night.) Samson might even have had trouble pulling these doors off the hinges. Well, the longer I stewed on this, the more upset I became. I’m sure my blood pressure was rising and my heart was pumping faster. And of course, no one was in the office to help. One of the frustrating things here is that I am learning the businesses don’t open until mid-morning. Coffee shops don’t even open until 7:30 or 8:00. No employee was around to ask what to do.
I got the idea to call the hostel phone, hoping it would transfer to someone’s cell phone. But when I dialed the number, I just heard it ring over and over in the office. Ring, Ring, Ring. It was about that time that I think the Lord spoke to me. I’m very careful when I say that the Lord spoke to me, because sometimes I think we use that phrase rather flippantly. But whether it was just a moment of clarity or the Lord, a truth was vividly spoken to me.
When the Lord speaks to me, most of the time I love it. I love it when He gives me some new insight into a scripture, or He wraps His arm around me and says, “Joe, you did all right, I’m proud of you, stay the course!” But there are also those times when the Lord speaks to me and it’s more of a, “Joe, we need to talk”. It’s very similar to those times when my wife says “Joe, sit down; we need to talk.” Generally, those aren’t fun conversations. And this moment wasn’t fun either. Basically what came to me, again, whether it was the Lord speaking to me or just a moment of realization, was “Joe, you’ve been on the Camino a week now. Before you left, you opened up to your congregation and told them that one of the things you hoped to accomplish in Spain was to break the horrible addiction of busy, busy, rush, rush. It’s obvious you are in the slow class right now, because after a week, you haven’t learned a thing.” Ouch. I’ve always hated getting a low grade in a class!
It was true. Here I was, back to my normal ways of hurrying. I wish I could say that immediately I went into chill mode and smiled and was at peace, but it wasn’t quite that dramatic. But my spirit did calm.
I decided to explore the hostel. I went up the stairs to the second floor— actually I thought I might find someone who would know about the door. When I got up there, I happened to look to my right and there was a door, and over the door it said “Salida” (exit). I recognized it as an emergency exit.
You know those times when all of a sudden you get an idea and go, “Hmmm.” That was one of those moments for me. I thought, “Hmmm.” I walked over to the door, knowing it would also be locked or at least have some kind of alarm that would scream as soon as it was opened - an alarm that would awaken the pilgrims and they would all rush me and spear me with their trekking poles for disturbing their sleep. Remember that this was the second floor, and more than likely this door just led to a little 2x4 deck with no access down to the ground. But I got to the door and slowly put my hand on the handle and quietly pushed it down. To my surprise it seemed not to be locked. Well, another “Hmmm” came to mind, so I took the next step to gently pull the door in. It opened! And much to my surprise, there was the street, level with the door. I hadn’t taken into account the fact that this town was built on a mountain. The street that ran by that side of the building ran uphill and was level with the second floor. I was elated and hurried out the door, just in case an alarm would sound! To be truthful with you, I don’t remember closing the door. 😂 I just knew I had to get out of there and slither away into the darkness, just in case the alarm pierced the quietness of the pre-dawn morning.
The village after I left it this morning
So began September 14th as I started my walk to Logroño, a city of 155,000 people. For the full 12 miles, I tried to apply the lesson I learned from my time of being a prisoner in the hostel. I slowed down. I took pictures of stuff that I really didn’t need pictures of. I took more pictures of the incredible sunrise. (How many pictures do you need of sunrises? I don’t know. I’ve still got 30 days left - ask me in a month and I’ll count them for you.) I even took a picture of a paper towel dispenser in a bathroom - yep, most bathrooms don’t have paper towels, you just dry them on your pants. But this one did and it looked like ours at our church.
Again, my favorite part of the morning was the stop for my coffee. Now, this coffee shop took me by surprise. I was on the trail in the middle of nowhere. But all of a sudden, there was a little makeshift coffee shop - and my first thought was, where do they get electricity? I did some snooping and found they had a gas generator over the hill so that it wouldn’t be heard and they ran a long extension cord to their little makeshift coffee shop. It was a great place! They had freshly squeezed orange juice - I said, “I will take one, please.” But then I also said, “I need my café con leche.” (coffee with milk). I sat and enjoyed sipping them both.
The “coffee shop” for today
Then, of course, I had to order the second round of café con leche. The whole time I just sat calmly, watching a little bird on the ground looking for a crumb. I watched the owner’s ugly but sweet dog that was dressed for the occasion. It was a good morning as I slowed down to better enjoy the Camino.
Maybe the advice God had for me today is the advice you need for your day. Maybe you need to slow down a bit. Now, I don’t necessarily expect you to listen to this old man that finds himself in the slow class way too often, but it would be wise to listen to the words of Jesus. He does tell you to BE STILL. He says WAIT ON THE LORD. The old hymn also says TAKE TIME TO BE HOLY, THE WORLD RUSHES BY! As you walk your camino today, slow down and listen and learn!
Buen Camino!
Approximate total miles - 560
Approximate miles walked today - 12
Approximate miles remaining - 456