A Sunny Afternoon 

We arrived in Rabanal del Camino three years to the day since the last time we were here, though not by any conscious design on our part.

We have been walking with a young Dutchman named Stijn, and we ran into our old friend Rebecca again a couple of times during today’s walk.

It has become a glorious, sunny afternoon. Checked into Refugio Gaucelmo, showered, laundered, and ate an early supper.

In the hour or so until Mass, Francine is napping, and I am sitting in the sunny garden smoking a pipe. The hospitalera is hanging the albergue’s wash. A few other pilgrims are scattered about, each alone in their own thoughts.

  

Idyllic.

Certainly a far cry from the mud and toil of previous days, though informed by them. These moments seem all the sweeter when I am mindful of the struggle that made them possible.