Ralphie´s Portal

Written on 12/07!

Boadilla del Camino (Photo credit: notafalerni)

I landed in Portomarin at midday today, which leaves me with 86 kilometers to walk till Santiago. I´m out of money and am sitting by the side of the church to try to get the price of a bed and some food together. Some very nice German fellow invited me to join his little band of merry travellers for a picnic earlier, leaving me quite sated at the moment.

I slept in Barbadelo yesterday and went for a stroll through the village and in the surrounding countryside, when all of a sudden down an overgrown lane a strange felling came over me. It was as if a faery had touched me. I stopped and looked around  and my eyes came to rest on a oaktree that must have been at least eight hundred years old. Someone had put three big rocks into a hole in its trunk some decades earlier and the tree had by now half enveloped them.

I put one hand on a rock and the other on the trunk and felt a surge of energy wash through me. I thought for a second about trying to dislodge the rocks, but decided against it and let it lie(there must be a good reason for it!) I bowed my head in respect to this majestic giant and felt very young and foolish indeed with my paltry half a century of age. There was a wall next to the road, made up of rocks that seemed to have been put there when Mother Earth was still a virgin.

Vines were trying in vain to strangle the mammoth tress. I just stared and stared in wonder and clapped my hands with joy. I actually laughed out loud! I had found my magic at last. I´m reading a book by a professor named Park, called Voodoo Science, in which he scientifically proves that magic is not of this world. I beg to differ, for I am living it every day. Nothing spectacular, just little things, like items appearing out of nowhere just when you need them and so on.

I ask no-one to believe me, but should they travel at my side for a while, they would surely be astounded at what they´d see! I do worry sometimes(I´m only human), but every time something happens to show me that I really shouldn´t. If you are pure of heart and clean of mind, then things just come to you as and when you need them(at least on the Camino).

I´m reminded of that fellow in Boadillo, who told me that a pilgrim needs three virtues: humility, patience and the ability to adapt. O only hope that I´m not getting too big for y breeches, for Karma doesn´t like that.

I am missing my internet friends and family terribly though. I hope I can settle down soon and go online every day again as before. I´ve been giving the address of Ralphie´s Portal to everyone I befriend and pray that they pay us a visit. Here´s a big hug from yours truly, Ralphie!!!

Español: Iglesia de San Nicolás de Portomarín Galego: Igrexa de San Nicolás de Portomarín (Photo credit: Wikipedia)