Negreira – Olveira
21.58 | 535.26 miles
+2,722 | -2,372 feet
Thankfully, my shoes were dry this morning. Today was my latest start at 8:30, but I slept for ten hours last night! The sky was overcast and it was foggy, but no rain. Seeing a glimpse of the sun on the trees was a welcome sight.
When it was raining, like yesterday, my head is down most of the time. It’s hard to focus on anything else but the rain. But today, the birds were singing and the sun was shining. As so often in life, what a difference a day makes.
Several years ago, the seven ladies and I read the book Seven. One of the weeks, we wore only seven articles of clothing. Part of the joy of being reunited with my suitcase on occasion has been the ability to wear something else, even if only for a few hours in the evening. I know one of the lessons of the Camino is to carry less baggage, but I’m going to very glad not to hand wash my clothes everyday and to put on some different clothes when I get home.
After yesterday, I’ve made up my mind that if it rains on me all day tomorrow (it’s forecast to start late morning), I’m going to stop when I feel I need to and take a taxi. I am staying two nights in Finisterre. On Monday, I can take a taxi back to where I stopped and finish the Camino. It’s forecast to rain on Monday as well, but at least I can break it up. It’s another 21-mile day tomorrow, and I don’t want to do it in the rain.
Part (most?) of me wants to finish the Camino and reach Finisterre just as I planned. Not once have I needed to quit early. But 21 miles is a long way to walk, even with the best conditions. Other than some notion in my head that I need to finish as planned, there is no reason to be miserable tomorrow if it rains all day. In any rational mind, stopping and finishing Monday is the most reasonable decision.
Hopefully the rain will hold off to the very end. But if not, I hope I don’t let stubborn pride convince me to be miserable and exhausted when it’s not necessary. It’s an easy decision to make today, but will I have enough self-discipline and self-care to stop if needed?
Buen Camino
This whole “self-care” concept is hard to do…please take care of yourself if this is a day of rain and nastiness. You will finish soon and have given me an enlightening, beautiful journey.