A sad return to Vernon Hills, Illinois and last minute preparations

If you didn't receive notification about my last "posting" and were signed up for updates, you're not alone.  I'm not sure what the problem is, but, as you well know, it won't be the first issue with Blogger.  To see this post properly, click here, and, if you missed it, read my previous post as well.

I had planned several hikes with the Mid-Atlantic Hiking Group, and several dog walks.  I cancelled them all, however, when I received the fateful phone call the morning of August 12 with one of my sisters telling me of the unexpected passing of my mother a few hours earlier.  She had suffered an apparent heart attack (she had a previous two decades before) and the EMS people were unable to resuscitate her this time.  First my little 8-year old dog, then my father, my sister Karin, and now my mother.  All within a 3-year span. My dear, irrepressible mother died just short of her birthday on August 28.  She would have been 93...

Gwynneth Ellaline Moira [née Aplin] Roberts

August 28, 1924 - August 12, 2017

Many phone calls, texts, and discussions with my two nephews resulted in me driving the next day to my parent's last home in Vernon Hills, IL. This is going to be a very melancholy walk this year...

It was so sad leafing through old family albums looking at photos for the funeral.  Glancing at pictures scanning 9 decades, most with smiling, happy faces sharing joyful occasions, proved painful nonetheless. 

My mother had been a private, unassuming person, but the glue that held the family together.  To her intimate acquaintances and inner family circle she could be frank, and no nonsense, yet she had a great sense of the absurd. She relished life, her family and those closest to her. Encouraging and kind, like many mothers, she sacrificed much for her children, always wanting the best for them, stocking the house with their favorite foods when they came home for a visit. Ever the optimist, she hated pretense and was usually a good assessor of character. My mother enjoyed a good time, loved board games, cards, golf, swimming, the Chicago Cubs, opera (she had a great operatic voice), Perry Como, crossword puzzles, and all nature, and was always up for the next adventure, wherever it might be. I know from our time in Norway, and then Germany, that she was terrible at foreign languages, and definitely not a skier, however she tried. Competitive to a fault, she could be a reluctant loser at a game of Yahtzee, and cheated at cards, but those shortcomings shall be forgiven her. How she will be missed...

Kenosha Harbor, July 15, 2017

 While visiting my dogs and I did twice-daily walks around nearby Hawthorn-Mellody Park to try and stay active.

I watched the recent eclipse there, but it was very overcast, so not as spectacular as it could have been.  The glasses were a major improvement over the cereal box...

Fortunately I now have my gîtes all lined up.  If all goes well they should be as follows:

 8  September:  Chapelle des Ursulines (Aire sur l'Adour)
 9  September:  Ferme de Marsan (Miramont-Sensacq)
10 September:  Gîte d'Arzacq Arraziquet (Arzacq Arraziquet)
11 September:  Gîte Perarnaud (Uzan)
12 September:  Gîte Boulangerie Broussé (Arthez de Béarn)
13 September:  Gîte Le P'tit Laa (Sauvelade)
14 September:  L'Alchimiste (Navarrenx)
15 September:  Ferme Bohoteguia (Aroue)
16 September:  "Les Franciscains" (St. Palais)
17 September:  Gîte Paradis (Larceveau)
18 September:  Auberge du Pèlerin (St. Jean Pied-de-Port)

Some are private ones, some are municipal.  A handful of them received rave reviews from fellow walkers, others more mixed ones, so I guess I'll just have to wait and see.  A major criterion in selection was location--I am determined not to walk more that 18 km/day--some days only 13 km this time.  If you recall, I had problems my last day in 2016 walking to Aire-sur-l'Adour, and similar ones when walking my last day in Spain as well.  I've noted that some of the gîtes do not have wifi, so my postings may be spotty.  You can always check back at the link I posted above to check for updates. I'll be walking the part highlighted in green shown in the map below.

So far I have done the stages Le Puy-en-Velay to Conques (yellow), Conques to Moissac, via the Célé Valley route (light blue), and Moissac to Aire sur l'Adour (pale orange). 

Jour 12 : Return to Paris

"For You, O LORD, have made me glad by what You have done, I will sing for joy at the works of Your hands"

Psalm 92:4

St Jean to Bayonne and Biarritz


It was lovely having more time in the town and for it not to be raining. The morning cloud cover prevented great views from the citadel, but I walked around and took in the sights. I was able to leave my pack at the pilgrim office, which left me a few hours unencumbered until lunch. I ran into some of my camarades from my previous days, and was overjoyed to find that they were taking the same little train to Bayonne. I had coffee at a café and then a quick lunch at a little place directly across from the pilgrim office, enjoying the sunshine from their terrace.

lunch

The little train to Bayonne had only one car

Some of my walking companions

And a brother an sister I shared a gite with in Navarrenx

I had plenty of time in Bayonne to visit the cathedral and cloister, the Cathedral of Our Lady of Bayonne, and to stop at a little café for a beer before taking a bus to the Biarritz airport where I had dinner. Bayonne is on the route to Santiago from Paris/Tours, and I could have had my créanciale [pilgrim passport] stamped there, but decided against it.  I stopped taking photos after the cathedral, however, as my phone's battery was about to run out... 

 Despite the reparation work being done at the Cathedral, and the fact that one of the chapels was completely roped off, I was glad I stopped there.  The stained glass was stunning as was the gilded painting on the walls...

 

I then took a bus to the Biarritz airport where I had dinner as my flight was a late one and dinner was not served. By the time I made it back to my apartment it was after midnight.  It had been a long day!

The final weeks before departure

  

 The summer days continue to pass. I spent two weeks visiting my mother in Vernon Hills, Illinois while Zoë rested a little.  My sister Janet, a nurse, gave her a small doggy-sized dosage of Prednisone which did wonders.  Keeping her quiet became a problem, and her progress was remarkable. 

While there I didn't do to much walking, so I am going to have to redouble my efforts.  Although Zoë has made a speedy recovery from her back injury, long walks are still out for her, even though short ones are definitely encouraged.

 

Walking around Century Lake in Vernon Hills with my mother.

I continue to help administer two Camino-related Facebook groups which keeps me in touch with the other walkers, and makes planning my own walk easier.  If I wanted to, I could just pose questions and see what others recommend or think on any related subject.  On the Feast Day of St. James, July 25, Brooke Taylor posted the article reproduced below.  If you recall, she was the woman I met in Paris in the spring through the Via Podiensis FB group. She was soon to be walking the Vezelay route.

How the scallop shell became a symbol of pilgrimage          by Philip Kosloski

 

There are numerous legends and myths surrounding this well-known symbol.

For those familiar with the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage, the scallop shell is a welcome sight. It is a symbol that guides pilgrims along the way towards their ultimate destination, and is frequently worn by those who embark on such a journey. 

   The scallop shell can also be seen in medieval representations of St. James the Greater as well as basic depictions of pilgrims. It is an ancient symbol, one that has become closely associated with the Camino and Christian pilgrimage in general. 

   Why is that? How did the scallop shell receive such an association? Part of it was due to certain legends surrounding the arrival of St. James’s body in Spain. One story recounts that after James was martyred in Jerusalem in the year 44, his body was taken to Spain and when the ship reached the shore a horse was spooked and fell in the water. The story goes on to say how both the horse and rider were miraculously saved and came forth from the water covered in scallop shells. 

   On a more practical level scallop shells are naturally found on the coast of Galicia near the location of St. James’s tomb. For pilgrims in the Middle Ages the journey was typically done to fulfill a penance given by a priest. In order to verify that the pilgrim did in fact reach the final destination, a local souvenir was required. Over time pilgrims began to take the scallop shells they found and then presented them as proof when they returned home.  

  At first pilgrims who wanted a scallop shell had to continue the journey past the tomb of St. James to Finisterre, but by the 12th century vendors saw the lucrative opportunity and began selling the shells near the cathedral. 

   Besides being a souvenir for pilgrims, the scallop shell was also used as a bowl for food and water. From this close association with the Camino the scallop shell was more generally known as a symbol of pilgrimage. It was used to symbolize the Christian’s journey towards heaven, evoking the Letter to the Hebrews and how we “are pilgrims and strangers on the earth” (Hebrews 11:13).  The Catechism further explains how, “Pilgrimages evoke our earthly journey toward heaven and are traditionally very special occasions for renewal in prayer. 

 For pilgrims seeking living water, shrines are special places for living the forms of Christian prayer” (CCC 2691). With this in mind the scallop shell was also used in the administration of the sacrament of Baptism. Not only did it prove to be a practical tool to pour water on someone, it also carried that same symbolism of pilgrimage with it. Baptism is the start of the Christian journey and so when a priest uses a scallop shell to pour water on a child, he is initiating that child on a pilgrimage towards heaven. This is also why the scallop shell can often be seen artistically represented in baptistries or on baptismal fonts. The scallop shell is an ancient Christian symbol, one that has a long and rich history.

Then in early August, I got together with another pilgrim, Janet Booth, who needed some help planning her Le Puy walk.  We met at the La Madeleine restaurant in Rockville, now relocated to the new Pike & Rose shopping area which was a perfect place because it was not crowded and there was the possibility of bottomless coffee. Another advantage is that there is free wifi at the restaurant, so I was able to bring my computer and to show her some images for her upcoming walk from Aumont-Aubrac to Moissac in September.

 


I've taken one walk with my dogs around Lake Frank a couple of days ago and have also managed a 7 mile hike at Burke Lake Park (VA). I took my nephew with me since he has now moved in with me and will be staying for the school year. He will be doing his first year of teaching at DC Public's charter school, Mary McLeod Bethune Day Academy, and had nothing to do this weekend as his current girlfriend has now returned to Blacksburg, VA.

I have also been emailing the places where I plan to stay in September, and have received email  confirmations from all, so I am feeling quite pleased. There will inevitably be challenges, but the more I have addressed early, the better.  Now my train and plane reservations are also all in order as well, so my trip is shaping up.