Departure

Note from Elizabeth: Mom boarded her flight to Paris tonight with her friend, Fran McAllister. Here is Mom with all her hiking gear on her way out the door. Bon voyage (or buen viaje), Mom!  

We're all cheering for you!

Some inspiration

FOR A NEW BEGINNING
In out-of-the-way places of the heart,
Where your thoughts never think to wander,
This beginning has been quietly forming,
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.
For a long time it has watched your desire,
Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,
Noticing how you willed yourself on,
Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.
It watched you play with the seduction of safety
And the gray promises that sameness whispered,
Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,
Wondered would you always live like this.
Then the delight, when your courage kindled,
And out you stepped onto new ground,
Your eyes young again with energy and dream,
A path of plenitude opening before you.
Though your destination is not yet clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is one with your life’s desire.
Awaken your spirit to adventure;
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.

From Benedictus: A Book of BlessingsBy John O'Donohue (Bantam Press 2007)

Thoughts from Home

~ "You must be the change you wish to see in the world" ~ Gandhi

Getting prepared

On Easter weekend Paul and I celebrated with our family in Niagara on the Lake. It was a lovely opportunity to spend some time together before we all go on our various journeys. This summer, Elizabeth and Dan leave for a two year teaching contract in Quito, Ecuador. Paul is going off to Normandy in time for the DDay commemoration and Geoff is soon to launch his new business. Bev is working on her PhD and that is a journey in itself!

On Sunday evening Fran and I leave for Paris and the first leg of the Camino starting from St Jean Pied de Port near the Spanish border. We have been haunting the streets and parks of Toronto in our hiking gear and now the packs are ready too!

Countdown to the Camino

I'll be leaving for Spain in eighteen days. My new friends (who have already hiked the Camino) have been a tremendous support with advice on packing, books to recommend and shared memories of places to highlight in my guidebook. My friend Fran McAlister is joining me for the first week and we have had a few classes of Spanish (Hola - Como esta?) but we know the Camino will have it's own vocabulary and many other languages to navigate as well!

The scallop shell is the symbol for the Camino de Santiago - many pilgrims wear a shell on the pack and there are markers with the shell along the route.