a much needed day of rest

*a note- no more names, as per usual i will refer to people by their inspired (or not so inspired) moniker.

today is a day of rest for 3 of us. the others came to Astorga yesterday and went on this morning but 3 of us decided we needed a day of rest. we head over the mountains into Galicia in the next few days and have had some long days in the past week so we are in need of a break. the Officer is still healing and we are hoping 4 days of rest will help (he took a bus ahead to Astorga a few days ago). the Camino has been rough on the Officer- ankle sprain, bad cold, blisters and all that on top of the injuries he sustained in Afghanistan- a reconstructed ankle still isn´t the same as the one he had before. for the Healer, this is week 9 of his journey as he started in Strassburg so he certainly could use a break. Astorga is a perfect place too, not too big but plenty to do. so while we all physically need a day, mentally we also need time to explore and let our minds prep for the final push. we are estimating 10 more days to Santiago. which will mean 1 month from starting out most of our little Camino family will be strolling through Santiago at the same time. that is the hope anyway. Ovi (an exception to the name rule as there is no better descriptor than Ovi!) is off with the Scientist as they walk well together and we are hoping our paths will cross again soon. maybe for a night of sleeping under the stars in the legendary haunted forest in Galicia. granted we don´t exactly know where the forest is but the legends are told all along the Camino and we are determined to sleep outdoors at least once during this epoch journey. so while it is the Healer, the Officer and myself we had a fabulous dinner with much of the ¨family¨last night, and are hoping to run into the others towards the end.

one day i will tell the stories of the Runner (Ireland), the Speaker of the Camino (Britain), the Doctor of the Camino (Israel), the Funny Canadian (obviously Canada), the future Priest (Spain), the Scientist (Germany), the Hungarian (umm...Hungary), the Silent One (Germany)...

well time is running out at the internet cafe. gotta run...no wait, just strolling today.