Day 32 – Advancing to Acebo

Dave got to listen to the church bells ring!

Ring and ring and ring and ring.

Here is the tower where the church bells sing.

All. Night. Long.

(Other than that, a lovely little church, though.)

A new day begins, the hardest of the trip thus far.

Left Rabanal at 8 AM. Gorgeous sun and sky.

After an hour, we hit Foncebadon.

This isolated mountain hamlet has good eats.

Ran into two nice girls from Virginia, also

heading for Cruz de Ferro. They promised

to help Mike place the ribbon for his family.

Starter selfie showing where we've come

from––two handsome pilgrims on a mission.

Even the flowers are our friends.

Up a major hill and then...Cruz de Ferro!

Video of us closing in on a meaningful goal.

We made it! A very big deal!!

Another angle.

Mike hangs the ribbons for his family

and lays the stone for Max.

Mike wanted to find just the right place.

And he finally did. Right at the

foot of the soaring, oak cross.

Dave is ready to leave his rocks.

A circle of love, heart-shaped.

Laying down the burden.
Taking up the blessing.

Sue and Dave, with love all around them.

So much solid rock beneath us.

So many beautiful flowers lighting our path.

Coming into a one-person town. 

A protective knight, looking out for Manjarin.

Tomas, the sole resident, is the real deal,

a modern Knight Templar.

The town of Manjarin is his home, and

as its sole citizen, he is a bit of a hermit.

Dropping down into our destination, El Acebo.

Wonderful little village and lodgings.

Tomorrow we set out for Ponferrada, where

we will have one of our last two rest days.

The walk is 14.3 miles.

A story from Dave:

When Mike first talked to me about walking the Camino, he told me about Cruz de Ferro and the old tradition of bringing something significant along to leave at the cross. Some people bring their burdens or troubles and symbolically leave them behind. Others bring an item that represents a loved one who has passed. I guess there are many types of things that people bring. I thought I would bring something that represented my most cherished possession...my family. I hoped in some way that their burdens might be made lighter, and that by carrying rocks with their names on them I would come to appreciate and love each one even more than I already do. With that desire in my heart, I carried a bag of rocks in my backpack for almost 400 miles, selecting a few each day to put in my pocket or hold in my hands while I walked, thinking about one or another's specific troubles, needs, and hopes. 

Today was the day to leave them at the cross. Selecting a somewhat isolated spot on the large mound of stones, I laid mine down in a heart shape. It was harder than I imagined to leave them behind. They are just rocks, but they came to represent more, because I had spent many hours thinking about each person as I held his or hers. I even got so I could tell whose rock was in my hand, just by the size and shape. As I sat next to the rocks and prepared to continue this walk without them, I vowed to be more generous, more appreciative of each member of my family. Leaving with that resolve seemed to make it a little easier to move on, knowing I will see them soon, more fully committed to loving and appreciating each person wth his or her own, individually-shaped personality and style. Carrying the weight was never a burden. Just a blessing. Buen Camino.

A story from Lynna:

I've been thinking all day about Cruz de Ferro and its personal meaning to any pilgrim on the trail or just in life. Mike and I did only a portion of the walk about five years ago, weeks after the very sad and sudden death of our daughter, Melissa's, 7-month-old baby. Cruz de Ferro can be a very busy place, but we waited for a quiet moment, said a little prayer, and found a safe place for our special rocks from his grave. It was a very emotional day for us, just as today was for Dave and Mike. Letting go of something we love so much is bittersweet, or maybe it is not so much letting go as sharing our guardianship with a higher Being. It is hard, sometimes, to trust. Cruz de Ferro is the place on the trail where you remember why you are walking. It becomes one of the places where you connect to all the millions of pilgrims who went before. I love that it is on a hill, pointing to the purpose of it all. Cruz de Ferro is a very special spot, the cathedral of our hearts, and I love its simplicity.

A story from Mike:

We placed a rock from Maxwell's grave at Cruz de Ferro in May of 2011, just weeks after he passed away. Now I have returned five years later, again in May, to place another rock from Maxwell's grave. This time, I am without Lynna, but I feel her love and support. The deep sorrow and sadness of not having Max with Melissa's family and our entire family is still heartbreaking. In some small way, we feel a closeness by touching earth and heaven together at Cruz de Ferro. 

The story of Cruz de Ferro:

(a translation of the plaque at that location, by David Chinn)

At the top of Mount Irago, at 1530 meters in altitude and in the pathway from Maragateria to Villafranca del Bierzo, stands one of the oldest and most compelling monuments of the Camino de Santiago. [Travelers typically carry a stone or pebble from home on their journey. Upon arrival, they see a mound of pebbles with a large, thin monument, topped by a cross.] The Iron Cross is a simple structure formed by a long shaft of oak about seven meters high, which ends in a small cross of iron and emerges from a base of stones in the shape of a cone almost 30 meters in diameter. [The mound is made of all the pebbles and stones left behind by thousands of pilgrims from all over the world through the ages.] This fabulous stacking comes from the secular contribution made by the Jacobean pilgrims, as well as the muleteers and travelers of every condition in transit, some for religious reasons and some in the belief that this gesture would protect them from the dangers of those on the road. For the oarsmen, it was a way of testifying before their God that they had fulfilled the purpose of their lives with the pilgrimage to Santiago. Although the origin of the iron cross is uncertain, historians agree on its antiquity and relate it to a pre-Roman landmark or a hillock erected during the Roman domination. 

One visitor said this, "I felt the presence of the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of pilgrims that had walked past the cross before me and the power of what their combined prayers and blessings had created."

A lovely and thought-provoking photo essay about the stones that mark the Camino in so many ways...You might just love it as we did. Read it here.

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