Author: Rachael

coronavirus

Posted on by Rachael
camino blanket #7

We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.
I have plans – and air tickets – and a bus ticket – and hostel bookings.
And then coronavirus came along.
At first it didn’t seem it would affect my plans particularly.
But then there was a case in Spain.
And soon there were over one hundred.
It was time to check with the insurance company. What exactly did that small print about epidemics and pandemics mean?
I have discovered they will pay up if the government issues a DO NOT TRAVEL TO SPAIN mandate or the airline cancels flights. This is reassuring.
At this point – seven weeks out from traveling – there are no warnings to avoid Spain. Qatar is still flying. Hospitaleros on the ground have decided to open albergues and offer hospitality as they have done for the past thousand-plus years.
Some say it would be selfish to walk, to potentially carry a bug, and I have been considering this view.
I have also thought about the economic impact on those little villages that largely rely on pilgrims for their livelihood – when one considers THAT, it seems selfish NOT to walk.

There is nothing else I can do right now.
So I wait.
I pray for those impacted.
I surrender.
I hope.
And I make a little progress each day on what I had envisioned would be my next camino blanket, one commemorating spring flowers in bright green fields merging into summer flowers in darker greens.
Like all my blankets, this one has a story being woven into it.
Right now it looks like a disconnected mishmash of possibility….even though I’m only weeks out from my Camino I feel disconnected from it. There’s enough uncertainty for the possibility to not eventuate into reality, so it feels natural to keep a little emotional distance in order to minimise disappointment.
This blanket is risky; creatively-speaking, I don’t know if the idea in my head is actually going to work….the Camino might be risky too.
The blanket is full of flowers declaring bright hope….I am creating in the hope that I will walk, whilst simultaneously offering the camino-possibility as a bouquet to God for Him to use as He chooses.
The blanket is full of gentle flowers of peace blowing in the wind….I rest in the peace that God orders my steps.
The loose ends poking out of the blanket – the Camino uncertainty poking out just the same – make me sensitive to that which has always been the truth – on our own, we do nothing; we walk only if God is willing. (Proverbs 16:9)

some questions i’ve been asked

Posted on by Rachael

Are you going to be walking somewhere like that picture in your first post?
If all goes according to plan I won’t just be somewhere LIKE that, I will actually be right there. I will be covering a short stretch that we did on our very first camino, and so I picked a photo we had taken on that section. Yes, right there. Isn’t it beautiful? It feels quite adventurous (and I AM quietly excited), but even though it looks remote, you can see there’s a road right there – it’s Excitement without Danger!

Is this a secret thing you’ve wanted to do for a long time?
Not at all. In fact up until a couple of years ago I would not have ever even considered doing this. A walk with the family, yes by all means, but a walk on my own….anything on my own, actually, it just wasn’t on my radar.
But things change. Seasons turn. The unexpected surprises us.

Aren’t you scared?
This is the biggie question, the one I have been asked most, and I feel very supported by friends and family sharing concern on my behalf…..thank you.
Is there anything I can say that will reassure you?
I DO have a slight sense of trepidation, and I know those butterflies in the stomach will start to flutter. Whether I’m travelling on my own or with kids, I maintain a state of heightened alertness. I think that’s healthy.
I don’t take senseless risks.
I know the route and have it mapped on my phone.
The Spanish police put out an app that allows you immediate access to them, which is reassuring even if you never need to use it.
Each day I will phone ahead to my anticipated accommodation so I know someone will be expecting me.
I carry food and water.
I still don’t like the prospect of dogs off chains, especially since Rob got bitten on our last camino – but now I will carry a small bottle of iodine and of course I’ll have my walking poles.
Something that helped me take my first solo walk was being part of an online camino forum where quite a number of people, including women, and even in their sixties and seventies report about their solo jaunts…and they don’t just survive, but thrive. When you see others doing this, you realise it’s not that uncommon.
And now that I’ve done it once myself (from Madrid to Leon in 2018), I have the confidence that the niggly concerns I started out with that time are not significant enough to prevent another adventure. Besides, I like the growth in freedom and independence that I have experienced.

“So cool, sounds like a lot of fun although, sad you won’t have anyone to go over the memories with (or is that an extroverted perspective on the situation?)”
Insightful question from my eldest daughter. Yes, it’s different to doing something with friends and family. As an introvert, I’m quite looking forward to the opportunity to be alone with the thoughts in my head. As I have done more and more on my own in recent years while the kids have pursued their own interests, I have learnt to allow myself to appreciate what I like even if no-one else is interested. While this can be solitary, it can still be enriching – and often, although it is not shared with family, it is shared with others instead. So on balance, I’m hoping the opportunity cost will end up worth it.

What about the kids?
They can’t wait for me to leave….
They certainly didn’t want to come.
Only two will be homeschooling (what a change from when we walked the first time and all eight were at home!) Those two will be working on some projects while I’m gone and will send me progress reports to check. I am confident in their abilities to manage this – and along with the other three-who-still-live-at-home, who will be working and/or at university, they’ll be cooking dinner each night and doing the housework (possibly the day before I return).

What about Rob?
He’s a hero.
It was his idea.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

i’m off for a walk…

Posted on by Rachael

I have lots of plans, but this wasn’t one of them.
I was hoping to take the youngest girls to Honduras for a few months next year.
Really hoping.
Waiting for Rob to say YES.
Tessa already had.
Ella-Rose was less certain.
Then I had my own doubts.
And even though Rob ended up saying YES, I said no.
It’s not happening. Not in 2020 anyway.

At the beginning of 2019 Rob turned 50.
He had said we weren’t spending unnecessary money this year, so that made buying a present problematic. The one I wanted to give him cost more coins than our budget allowed. Some of the kids told me to just buy it, and he would be happy. I wasn’t so sure. And as it turned out, a significant part of the deal became an impossibility at the Very Last Minute.
You see, Rob and Dave have been mates for most of their lives (you can start saying that kind of thing when you get older, even if you didn’t meet until high school!) They have had all sorts of adventures over the years, and even when Dave and his family moved countries, the friendship stayed tight.
One thing they had talked about doing together was cycling a camino.
So – with Dave’s blessing and Rob’s employer’s permission – I planned it as a birthday present. I stopped shy of buying the air ticket (just in case Rob Really Was Serious about penny pinching) and a week before The Birthday, Dave called to say he couldn’t go.
At least, not next year.
I still gave the present and one day they are going to do it. There’s no expiry date on my wishes, although the longer they leave it, the more their bodies might suffer!

Then at the end of the year it was my 50th.
I got three airline tickets.
Well, fake ones.
And I had to choose which one to redeem.
One was for a weekend with Rob in Queenstown.
One was to take the girls to Honduras.
One was for a solo walk in Spain.

There only felt like there were two “right” answers!
How could you have a heart and not choose to share an adventure with another person?
(Unless you’re an introvert) <wink>
And my adventuring soul argued that a weekend versus a longer experience was a serious complication. Besides, my pragmatic mind suggested I could probably wrangle a weekend trip away out of the Haircuts Budget. Both/and.
As far as Honduras goes, I had claimed my question to the girls about whether they would like to go, was a genuine choice. So the persistent insistent objections needed due consideration. The Smallest Person now knows she has a voice.

Which left an unexpected gift figuratively laying on the table.
That’s when my previous dreamings about walks and routes and timings and possibilities became useful. Some might think it’s pointless to think about things which there is no certainty of achieving, but as a Certified Schemer, I know differently;-) That’s how I was quickly able to find the cheapest flights and fit a walk into the timeframe proffered.

So I’m off for a long walk.