In so many ways, you can get a better appreciation of any writer’s masterpiece by charting their path toward it. You see their milestones, events, …
On the Way to “The Way”. Part 1: Miss King Goes to New York
Camino de Santiago
Stories about the Way of St. James
If you will indulge me, this started out as a story about a book. In October 2022, I was planning to attend the annual pilgrims conference sponsored …
The Company She Kept: A Letter to Dr. James Rendel Harris
Lately, I’ve been noticing people with canes. I understand how useful they can be if you have injured your foot, your leg, for instance. Use a cane while it heals.
But the canes I have been watching are being used by older people. Typically, they are not pretty or decorated. They look worn and they bow sometimes from supporting the weight of their owner. At every other step, there is something to hang onto, to lean on, to use to keep your balance.
I wonder what the first day is like with a cane.
At my bus stop, there is a wonderful woman who waits for buses with me nearly every morning. We’re both older than most of our compatriots on the bus and like many older people, we worry about tomorrow a lot more than we let on. She and I grouse about the bus drivers and we keep tabs on other regular riders.
Something she said to me once has bothered me since it first came up months ago. We were talking about walking home from the office in a power outage. We agreed it would be an effort to cover this distance on foot and she told me suddenly, “You know, I’d hate to have to start using a cane. I want to hold out to the last minute.”
We both walk now unaided and many days, I will go out of my way to find nice walks because walking clears my head. In fact, I know that I could walk the entire route to my office more often if I had the organizational skills necessary to get out of the house a half hour to forty-five minutes earlier. She, on the other hand, might not be as comfortable, even though she clearly does not need a cane. Today.
But how do you know it’s time?
Is there something that cries out to you that today is the day you surrender to old age and start using a cane? Does a doctor tell you to use one? Or is this something that creeps up where you just don’t remember later how it started, how you found yourself in the store, picking out a cane?
I can’t imagine they would be any harder to get used to than my new hiking poles. I took them out for a spin and had the rhythm down pat in just a few steps. If the height is right and the feel of the handle doesn’t irritate your hand, how difficult would it be to use a cane? It’d be pretty simple, right? Step, cane-step; step, cane-step; step, cane-step. And off you go.
But then, there’s no going back, is there?
Now you are officially a senior citizen, an older American, a what, disabled person? With that one stroke, you would go from being able to disabled, and unlike the ones who use canes
when they have sustained an injury, you will know, deep down, there’s no going back to normal. You don’t get to improve or get better. This is the moment you would have to realize you can only get less better. Today, cane; tomorrow, walker? Then, wheelchair? And those beautiful shiny black hiking poles that were so exciting the first time out, will be left in the closet for someone else to use. Someone younger.
I am not ready to give up hiking just yet. I want to walk unaided and I relish every single chance I get to do so. Of course, I worry this walk today or maybe one tomorrow could be the one where I realize I just can’t do it anymore. It’s too hard or I worry too much that I could fall.
But, I hope it’s not this walk. It’s almost sunset now and the breeze is amazing. I feel it on my face and when I step out, it nudges me forward. I stretch up to my full height at each street corner and I step carefully across all those cracks in the sidewalk. I catch a glimpse of kids on the swings, the men playing dominos at the card tables alongside the vegetable market, and the young girls comparing notes on that boy across the street.
I don’t want to miss any of this – this wonderful and exuberant life of the city – and it’s fabulous that nobody even notices me as I walk by.
As I walk by.
God, I love those words.
Available now! Author is available now for book talks and pilgrim association events.
If You Stand Here: A Pilgrim’s Tour of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela
by Amazon.com
Learn more: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TFW3P26/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_-DAcGb3M74PDJ
#caminodesantiago
#santiagodecompostela
#cathedral
If you would like to try any of these books, please visit my bookstore – on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Anne-Born/e/B015EJGPXW
If you would like signed copies, let me know and I will be happy to send you one – or more! Write to bpackpress@gmail.com
If you have a book club that might be interested in reading with a talkback, I would be delighted to visit!
And look for the new TweedPod poscasts on TumbleweedPilgrim.com – stories of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. Coming up shortly!
Thank you to the lovely people who have written kind things about our new book!
Buen Camino! Tips from an American Pilgrim – available on Amazon, B&N, and by special order at your favorite independent bookseller.
All are FIVE STARS!
Great motivation book for the Camino de Santiago
PorCliente Amazonel 20 de enero de 2018
I really liked this book by Anne Born on the Camino de Santiago and was surprised how easy it is to read. Even though it is an information book, the story really flows and the anedocts are really interesting. I was able to go 3 times on the Camino this year, last time end of October. But this book made me want to go back as soon as possible 🙂
A wonderful book that transports you to Spain and then is your companion throughout!
ByKarenon 3 February 2018
Anne writes a delightful book that is a joy to read. She wets your appetite if like me you have never been a pilgrim and give you a mountain of helpful information that you would need for your trip. It is written in a warm style, offering you the opportunity to think about taking some time out from a busy life to walk, providing yourself with ample opportunity to relax, reflect and contemplate. Highly recommended to pilgrims and non-pilgrims alike.
A Small Gem Of A Guide To Walking The Camino
ByJ. Haskinson January 1, 2018
“Let me start by saying I love this book. It is interesting and informative and a wonderful read whether you are planning to walk the Camino soon, or are like me, thinking about putting it on your “Maybe One Day” list.
Anne Born’s voice is so warm and friendly it often reads like a memoir, but it is full of useful information. Anne covers everything you need to know right down to avoiding blisters and what to use if you get them. (Neosporin, Chapstick, and a nice big bandage)
She talks about why someone might want to do this, (there are so many varied reasons) and how to make it happen. She offers advice and information in a way you feel like you are sitting across the table from her.
In the chapter, “What Do I Need?” Anne leaves nothing out. Including the poignant reason you need to bring a small rock. (No spoilers)
I started reading this book and finished it the same day. I marveled at how much information Anne packed into such a small book with such a friendly, yet reverent tone.
The glossary at the end is very helpful to understand some of the unfamiliar words and how to pronounce them correctly.
Anne’s personal journey walking the Camino is fascinating and truly a joy to read. I heartily recommend this guide for the Pilgrim-To Be and the Wannabe-Pilgrim as well.
There is so much here to love.”
I loved the organization of the book and the simple titles …
ByAnonymouson January 6, 2018
“Anne Born has compiled a fundamental consolidation of all things one should know when planning a long walk across a country…not in an encyclopedic format, but as thoughtfully presented factual categories of information for your consideration and tidbits to inspire AND keep things in perspective. I loved the organization of the book and the simple titles of each chapter. Can’t get lost here! And you know exactly to where you should return when wanting to “read that part again”.
Once you’ve completed Buen Camino! you can go forward searching for more detail or other opinions, should you feel the need and Anne leads you to those resources.
Prior to my first camino, I craved all specifics about the camino, over and over again. Redundancy seemed soothing and Buen Camino! feeds this need. Anne has approached this book from the perspective of “A Day in the Life of a Peregrino”. So helpful ….and calming.
As a 36 day pilgrim trekker on my inaugural, followed 2 years later by a short 5 day journey from Samos to SdC and a 15 day hospitalera assignment in Ribadiso, I consider myself experienced enough. In Buen Camino! I learned more than a dozen tips I wish I had known prior to my first step, perhaps before I had bought my plane ticket. Glad to know them now as there are always caminos on the horizon!
I recommend this book for returning pilgrims, first timers and your family members to understand what is ahead for a pilgrims’ journey. Get your highlighter out and enjoy!”
A Must Read
ByStacey A. Quartaroon January 24, 2018
“I loved this book! It is informative and provides lots of helpful details for anyone thinking of taking a pilgrimage. Of particular interest to me were all the personal anecdotes spread through the book from Anne’s many trips to the Camino (and it was noteworthy that one can experience the Camino in a variety of ways). A must read!!!”
New BOOK Notice!
Not a guidebook, no maps, no long-winded legends or history – just lots of helpful suggestions to anyone planning their first Camino or just waiting to go back.
Available now on Amazon and Barnes & Noble – $6.99 paperback and Kindle
Recommended for anyone planning to walk the Way of Saint James – or as a pilgrim’s gift to your family.
What is a typical day like? Where do you stay, how much will it cost? Why on earth do people do this? Buy the book!
The Backpack Press 