It's Friday May 31st, on my way to Castrojeriz. Thirteen miles, we will lose a regular to an injury.

I made an error in a prior post by referring in it to Stage 15. That's was wrong, today is stage 15. My fifteenth consecutive day walking the Camino. Sorry about that. Its difficult to keep track of the days. I am sure that I have sent pictures to Robin with a note about the picture and have used the wrong stage number. Sorry Honey, I will try harder. 

I leave my little room and first I have coffee and a single piece of toast. That's all that is offered. No problem I will get something on the way.

The weather is once again very nice. It's May the 31st as I mentioned . It's a big day back at Dove. The Member Guest is under way and I can only imagine what is going on. 

First I will guess that there is lots of talk about some guest who showed up with a 13 handicap and shot 74 on the first day! People are always upset when this happens. Several guests are calling home having flown in from out of state only to realize that the member can't read his own greens asking himself why did I say "yes"?

That's ok, by Saturday there will be a long list of members telling their guests to look around or just take a picture because you will never see this place again! Oh I do love the Member Guest. My brother and I will be there next year. Book it.

The landscape is not all that different from the last few days. Michele , Rainer and I all leave Horrnillos Del Camino together but that won't last long. Pictures and pace will decide that and I walk about half of this stage alone. The gap between the three of us changes constantly. At times I am with Michele and at times I am with Rainer.

I would guess that we are about three miles into the walk and Rainer and I are together when we catch up with the older German woman, Margaret. She is not well. We stop and Rainer who is also German begins to ask questions. She pulls up her pant leg and its not good. Her left leg from the ankle to the knee is swollen badly and it's is covered in what looks like a rash.

She goes on to explain to Rainer that she had surgery on her left foot in February and again in March. Something is very wrong and while I'm no doctor the surgery comment and what her left leg looks like makes me believe there is a connection. 

She try's to convince Rainer that it's probably just a reaction to the bandage she had been using. I doubt that but I keep quite as Rainer talks to her about where the next Doctor will be and that she should consider using a donkey service to get there. The conversation ends, she says she is fine and we leave. We have ten miles to go. 

Rainer, the Camino veteran tells me that the next stop is only about two miles. There will not be another opportunity to stop until we get to the final destination for today.

As we approach and then enter this very pretty little village we turn up the hill and everyone we have been with on The Camino from St Jean is sitting at tables outside having something to eat and drink. It's like a reunion.

Elaine, Emma, Emily, Michele, Nelly, Fernando and even Mee-Sue has made it back . Everyone accept Margaret.  A couple of new faces from Ireland are also part of the group but I have not met them yet.

We leave together but are soon walking alone. I like the solitude. It causes you to think of many things that will surprise you when they pop into your head. Here is a great example and its one that will cause me to keep a smile on my face for the next mile at a minimum.

I am walking  along and have blocked out the fact that in this stretch of The Camino no matter where 

I look I see those ugly wind turbines everywhere, and then I remember something really great because of the turbines. 

Back in the mid-eighties I went to northern California to conduct some due diligence on a wind Energy Company that wanted to raise money from investors in order to build out their wind project and grow the business. 

My job was to help determine if the project was a worthy investment. I represented the third party marketing firm which would take the idea to Wall Street firms which could then offer the idea to  qualified investors.

I returned from my visit and brought with me all of the Company's offering materials which included a video tape presentation from a senior member of the management team.  So there I am on a Sunday afternoon watching this fairly short video and my son Ryan, who is six, is sitting there watching it with me. 

I have no idea if he is getting any of this. I am having enough trouble of my own so I just assume that maybe he just wants to spend a little time with the Old Man. I traveled to much at the time and was away from home far too often. 

 

I do recall very clearly that the spokesperson on the video refers to the investment as a "wind farm" several times in this short tape. I am familiar with the term and at the time thought nothing of it. 

Well, a short time after this Ryan is in school and his teacher asks each of the students to stand and tell all of the other kids in the class something about what there Dad does in his work.

When its Ryan's turn he stands and says "my Dads a wind farmer"! I can only imagine the reaction that got from not only the other six year olds but also his teacher. 

I find out about all of this some time later at a school function where his teacher tells me the story. Priceless! They may be ugly as I am walking among them now but I do have a smile on my face because of them.

That's it for now. I am doing my best to catch up and will try again tomorrow. Until then Buen Camino, and good night.