Canterbury becoming a pilgrim again

The travel day : thoughts about why I want to be a pilgrim again.
June 30-July 1st 2012
Writing with jet-lag to an audience of more than just Gord is never a good idea. So no great expectation of wit please.

The trip was one of our quickest yet, arriving at Canterbury Cathedral 14 hours after leaving Vancouver. We splurged and hired a drive right from the airport after not finding any cheaper train connections. This was a good idea because even a folding bike and our single box of gear was really awkward. Gord wrenched his handling the luggage in Vancouver, but he is determined not to let it delay things. We will stick close on our first day just in case plans need to change.
People interactions in an airport today underlined once again that I want to be a pilgrim.
In Vancouver there were four seats with leg rests and only two of them were occupied by a couple. When I asked the gentleman sitting there if he would mind if we joined them he paused, looked up at me slowly, glaring, and reluctantly moved his pack off the seat. Facial expressions did all the effective communication, making a hello out of the question. What a jerk I thought as I peeled my stinky socks off to air my feet and put on new ones (I was bringing out all my charms too.) Now I am not in the habit of public shaming anyone and that is not my intention here. This guy is all of us when we are tired, stressed and feeling pressured to exist with others when we would really prefer not to.
As I looked at this couple I noticed that they were wearing light hikers and had small but good backpacks. I took a risk and asked them if they were heading to the camino and they were!! She was terrified and had lots of questions and gratefully accepted our reassurances. Layers of grumpy resentment evaporated off of all of us in a moment and we were talking and chatting about the various pilgrimages we had all done and still wanted to do.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone