Ecuador bound to explore biodynamic farming...

In just four days I depart for Quito and work my way south through Loja, then down toward the Andean Highlands of Ecuador...to a remote farm just outside of Vilcabamba. It is a rustic setting where there is no electricity or internet (though there are compost toilets...woo hoo!) and one has to hike in to get to the property. It is for people who want to learn... and become self sufficient in biodynamic gardening/farming skills, who love the outdoors, who wish to expand their consciousness and take greater responsibility in stewarding the Earth. This feels good to me. It's not that I have grand plans to become a farmer but I do have an interest in finding out more about this process. It is becoming increasingly important to farm this way...to keep the land (soil) healthy, productive and sustainable. It is the opposite of our current style of monoculture farming which uses imported artificial chemical fertilizers and removes the nutrients in the soil forever. Biodynamic farming involves rotating crops which are complementary and indigenous to the particular area or region, taking into consideration local climate, soil, animals, and plants. It is all about the interrelationship between these elements. It utilizes composting or animal manure for fertilization rather than importing external artificial fertilizers. It is a holistic form of organic farming which can help to sustain our environment. There is a part of me that is becoming interested in urban farming....something I would like to explore further. But for now it's off to work and learn at a farm in Ecuador! I am here, in this moment, on a beautiful Sunday evening in Marin County...preparing for the journey ahead.

keeping the journey alive and making spanish Sopa de Garbanzo at home with my son...

More thoughts....

I am thoroughly happy to download images to share...I had just over two thousand! We are now home and adjusting...it's a process..a little empty and frenetic in the big world so we are keeping it simple...Alexa and I have been home for four days and we will have walked three thus far...We miss walking. I realize I meditated everyday on the Camino...sometimes I had many things to think about other days I thought of nothing...just my breathing (in and out) or my footsteps...or the sounds around me...sometimes I listened to music or talked with a friend...or just observed everything around me...or nothing at all...sometimes I found a rock and held it...and then let it go...with a hope or intention...The present moment is all that counted and everything changed daily...so we made the most of every moment...We also got used to letting things go...and trusting. We stopped worrying about little things...whatever we needed always came..and if it didn't, it didn't matter, because we let it go...we felt free and unburdoned...We stopped carrying excess with us...physically and in spirit. The Camino is a metaphor for life and we have changed...and it is good...We miss our Camino family...mostly young people and some people my age too who came from all over the world. We are thinking of you...Laura, James, Craig, Tina, Steve, Jorge, Nieves, Susana, Sisco, Carmelo, Sandra...and others too Ivan, Sharon, Harvey, Theo, Serg and Sonja...It was a truly a Buen Camino!

Will post more pictures a bit later and when Alexa is ready, you'll hear from her too!

Peace

A window into the journey...some images to share!

The last day on my own in Lisbon....

Alexa is off for the day with our good Camino friend and companion, Steve who came to see us from Ireland...
and I find myself a bit listless...and contemplative.

Cafe con leche is first and foremost at the start of this day, like everyday on the Camino...
When I return home I have a list of meal customs (and dishes) that will become a part of my daily life, and one of them is hot milk with hot coffee in the morning!

I have been writing in my journal, listening to the music that has accompanied me over the past two months, and reading poetry that I either brought with me or that came to me along the way...

This is one favorite poem to share before I head out for the next part of my day,
 in beautiful sunny Lisbon...



We shape ourself
to fit this world

and by the world
are shaped again.

The visible
and the invisible

working together
in common cause,

to produce
the miraculous.

I am thinking of the way
the intangible air

passed at speed
round a shaped wing

easily
holds our weight.

So may we, in this life
trust

to those elements
we have yet to see

or imagine,
and look for the true
shape of our ownself,
by forming it well

to the great
intangibles about us.



David Whyte

a new journey begins.........

So much has happened since our last post. We made our way through Galicia...small little hamlets where you trek through cow pies and dirt or stone paths...sometimes along the river but no main roads really. The feeling is awesome....I sang to myself outloud, carried stones and left some behind...holding my thoughts and intentions...and walked completely alone for long stretches...The closer we got to Santiago the more new pilgrims we saw on the Camino. The truth is we avoided them...they were too perky and asking the early questions we had left behind.."Where did you start, why are you doing the Camino?" We avoided the large Albergues choosing instead the smallest ones in the lesser known areas.We averaged 25 to 30 km a day.

By the time we reached Santiago...we were tired and excited...also strange to know we had arrived. Our pilgrim familia waited four hours for us to enter the plaza l`Obradoiro in front of the main Cathedral and sang to us as we walked in!! It has been an emotional experience...all the endings and good-byes that have come up one by one as each of us have departed! We decided to go to Finesterre for three days and return to Santiago for the Holy Day. Finesterre is known as the end of the known world...it was wonderful to go there and do a bit of decompression...and spend time with our friends. Alexa and I spent the night out by the light house...at the edge of the Atlantic ocean..It was awesome! It will be remebered as one of the top moments of our pilgimage...So beautiful....we just slept outside between the big rocks...

We returned to Santiago for the Holy Day...streets super crowded as we expected...apparently the King and Queen of Spain were there...didn´t have a clue...there was so much going on...fireworks, huge fun carnival, bands, parades all night long! We visited the cathedral and got ourselves commemorative small siver medallions which we are wearing on our wrists....

We are now in Oporto, Portugal...been here three days ans heading to a small seaside town tomorrow.
I am filled with a mixture of emotions...a sense of accomplishment for having made the 800km journey across Spain...oddly empty at the ending of it all, new inspirations for the next part of my journey...and missing the walking and our friends....we´ll be home soon and that will be good too...

Planning to post photos upon return....I have a gazillion to share!

In the flats...

We're in flats headed toward the city of Leon...this is the stage of the Camino called La Meseta...known for being flat, long hot stretches with nothing in between...few trees if any and not many places to stop for water. It is time you spend with yourself. Peregrinos get up and out early...5am or so to try to avoid the hot afternoon sun. On our way to the small town of Berciano, we found cool shade under an overpass under construction...under some scaffolding! We are more than half way to Santiago.... though there is much ground to cover still as next we'll head into Galicia. There are new pilgrims just starting as we get closer to Santiago. This Ano Jacobeo, which won't come again for 11 more years, attracts twice the number of people to the Camino. There is concern about overcrowding but we will take it day by day and focus in the moment and aren't worried about it. We met a French man who is walking with his donkey named "Licorice". It wears a straw hat with holes for it's ears! We have been staying in smaller parish albergues where dinner is served communal style and everybody helps prepare the meal and clean up. In Berciano we stayed in a 16th century adobe monastery. It was very cool...Despite lack of television there is alot of enthusiasm for the on-going World Cup soccer championships...Spain is still in and it matters in a big way to Spaniards...I'm sure we'll stay informed on this subject.