The countdown is accelerating: two more nights at home before we depart for Barcelona. Although I am crossing off things from
my lists, they don’t seem to get any shorter. It is a challenge to plan for the next six weeks on the walk
and leave my life here in order:
paying bills; wrapping up my Dad’s estate; getting the house ready for
the house sitter; providing food for my animal companions, the chickens and
cat,; touching base with friends before I go; planning for a webinar series for
when I return; doing ISTE committee work; and last minute emails. I cross one thing off and put two more
things on the list!
My guest room bed is covered with everything I’m planning to
take. I can see that although I
did a practice packing and have taken my pack out walking, it is still too
heavy. I want to take more
than I should. When I look at the
recommended packing lists, I am adhering to 2 pants, 2 shirts suggestions and
it seems so sparse for 6 and a half weeks. Maybe I should throw in a skirt.
I’m finding that I’m starting to second-guess and doubt
myself. Can I actually do this
walk? Can I carry the pack for
hours? Will I be able to sleep
with a bunch of other people in the same room?
These moments of doubt are overridden by the amazing
generosity and thoughtfulness of so many people who are supporting this
journey. Today I found a bag with
a stone symbolizing God’s love tied to my door knob.
My mail box had a large envelope addressed to “The President
of Adventures” with beautifully wrapped little packages labeled for when I will
need them: for blisters, padding
in my shoes, sensitive or rubbing skin and even a burst of energy!. I look
forward to unwrapping them as I need them.
My email box is full of good wishes and even had a kindle
book gifted to me to download and take.
A friend did a visualization with me to prepare me for the trip. I have blessings, prayers, breathing
beads and our church’s music director is letting me record her singing some of
our favorite hymns. What an
abundance of gifts! I feel so
grateful for the support and friendship of so many people.
Through all the preparation, the best part are the visits
and phone calls I’ve had with friends, family and neighbors as I prepare for
this sojourn. I am grateful for
the gift of friendship from my next-door neighbors, to friends on other
continents.
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ReplyDeleteYou are a gift to all those who know you, Holly! Have a wonderful time and I am glad you are surrounded by so many good thoughts and treats. Thanks for sharing a picture of the package I sent. What a lovely thing to do. I love that you are keeping the treats packaged until you need or want them.
ReplyDelete<3 Michelle
"Jenny Hanniver" is my joke name (look it up online when you are resting). You know me as "Sandy", from church. What wonderful comments and wonderful pictures, Holly! Thank you. I hope you can keep sending, but when you get tired, please, I hope you'll rest. Having done much backpacking in my younger days I understand your comments about weight. You might consider the comment Tolkien had Thorin tell Bilbo in "The Hobbit" when Bilbo kvetches about having to wear a heavy pack: "Don't worry. It will get lighter all too soon." Of course they were toting food supplies, which you aren't, but Thorin also must have meant that the wearer will become stronger. I packed 210 miles in hilly Britain in 1974, according to a pedometer. I also needed to carry no food--and came home 15 pounds lighter, in splendid health, and headed back to college with nearly every research note and observation I needed to breeze thru an MA in Medieval Studies! Much younger then, of course. I bought numerous heavy books but kept mailing them home along with copious photos & handwritten notes. Glad you can send your notes and photos electronically. Sorry you must wend your way through tourist traps. It made me sick in 1991 to see that vendors have taken over the village of Cashel in Ireland, at the foot of one of the great world treasures.
ReplyDeleteOooo, how I envy your visits to the City of Gaudi! I have been madly in love with his visionary architecture since the 1950s when I worked during college summers to catalog the Miami Public Library's art prints collection, and would love to reside in one of those dreamscape apartment buildings. Have they completed Sagrada Familia yet?
PS: Our friend Leigh has had a sudden illness that needs follow-up, preventing her trip to India. You may wish to send a special note to her.