Community reformed

Our Camino comunity is in the process of changing and reconfiguring. Several who started out last week from St. Jean are no longer with us. Of the Italian group, one remains: the wonderful Andrea. Some of his companions have returned to Italy and one has taken the bus to Leon from where he will continue walking to Santiago. There are others who have returned home and others who are "shrinking" the Camino in order to cover more distance in fewer days in order to to finish in the number of days they have left before they have to return to obligations at home. As people adjust their pace, change their stopping points the community is reconfiguring itself and new sub groups are forming. My walking companion of several days, Marjan, has moved on ahead and is trying to cover more ground in order to reach Santiago in less than the alloted time so that he can catch his return flight home. Today I wlaked wiht Mijon form Korea and we are sharing a room in a very nice albergue in Asofra. She too is hoping to go all the way to Santiago. A number f other folks will be leaving ina few days because of time contraints, Their plan is to return to complete the trip in the future. Some of left becuase they have thye have found the journey to be too strenuous. According to informati that Marjan shared with me, only 15% of the people who start out for Santiago will arrive there. There have been some very gruellings days because of the heat and made worse by the climbing. The blister I have I believe have come form not giving my shoes a proper breaking in. Thank you for your prayers for Johannes, I saw him yesterday and he had a pair of boots that someone else had left behind at one of the albergues. Over these past few days people continue to assess what they really need and what they can live without. Many things are bing left behind (pilgrim equivalent to a yard sale) or being mailed home. One of the things tha has become very clear to me over the past week is that there is much more balance in my life as I travel the Camino: balance between the spiritual life, the emotional care, and physical care. There is time for everything, including spending time with new friends just sitting and laughing or eating together. We laugh a lot and take a lot of silly pictures of each other! Well, I´m going to relax for a little and review tomorrow´s itinerary before heading off to dinner. Believe me when I say, I could take a permanent liking to the freedom of life on the road. The freeedom of it is very intoxicating, and the people and stories one encounters along the way is very enriching.