A VOICE ON THE ROAD

When we arrived at our destination last night I walked over to the church at the center of town. It’s become a ritual: Wake, walk, first...

My desire to make this pilgrimage was lit in earnest nearly 15 years ago by my best friend Mary. She almost walked it for her 50th...

My walk with Joe, at just over mid-point, continues to be a balance of light and darkness. Oddly, each day I seem to find more of the...

Some people don't do gluten or dairy or religion. At the beginning of the walk, I didn't do bugs -- of any kind. So when my guidebooks to...

Brunna and Claudio are from Brasil. They were married just before boarding the plane to Spain to walk for their honeymoon, with all of us...

Halfway This is halfway It's not what I expected Where's the confetti Kill Me That came very fast And yet my feet say no They say kill me...

By the time we reached the middle of the road, Joe and I had met two other couples and several individuals we simply, once we met them,...

Butterflies You two dart and dash down the road before me swerve and flitter cross and alight four wings powdery like velvet dust You two...

Hobbled into the little town of grand Grañón, Spain. Up the steep stairs behind the church at the center of town. Opened the door...

Meseta You are vast Meseta Mountain-rimmed Wide You feel Barren and desolate To me Even Your rich tilled soil You are miles Meseta Dying...

One of my colleagues at the University of Montana did a presentation last summer about what it is like to live with and love someone with...

This pilgrim's trail Is paved with heart-shaped stones Rising up from the path From under the dust Of a million steps before my own They...

Sangria Oh Sangria You red-lipped beauty Bursting with orange and spice And lemon and something else I don't recognize. You fill my...

If you don't like history, skip this post. But I was so amazed by how the Camino de Santiago is mapped, that I named this blog after one...

Kestral A quilt This patchwork land This patchwork soul Row after row Of corn or grape Step after step Of yearning and longing A quilt...

(With apologies and homage to Tarō Gomi and his beloved children's book, Everyone Poops, which every child and pilgrim should have.)...

What Not to Ask Are you OK? How are you doing? What's wrong? What’s making you so sad? Did you take your medicine? Is it me? Did I do...

Chasing Koreans They are so fast There are so many of them I am ashamed to admit I am chasing a group of Koreans I am chasing Koreans Up...

Last night before dinner I had what I’m going to claim as “a legitimate Camino-related mystical experience.” A Camino UFO of sorts. I...

Land & Soul A quilt This patchwork land This patchwork soul Row after row Of corn husks and fig trees Step after step Of yearning and...