Raining

Stopped into a winery for a sample, but really this means "last chance for a bio break." While I was drinking the wine and eating the tapa of cheese balls, I looked up and it was dumping rain, so at least I was able to pull out all the rain gear under a roof.  Then of course I was under a clear patch for the next 6 kms or so.  Decided to stay in town, only one other in shared room so far.  Wearing mask, using hand sanitizer as I saw a positive COVID test on the check-in desk.  Hoping for the best, how many people have I encountered where I didn't know? I had a booster about three weeks before I left.  I probably should've walked further today, my feet feel okay, and it makes for a long next couple of days.

My roommate has to send her bag forward and was feeling anxious that she couldn't find any available place.  I walked into the place I am today, but booked tomorrow.  At least it includes dinner + breakfast.

I wandered and got lost earlier. In Cacabelos.  Last night in Ponferrada.  Was finally able to visit castle. My feet were killing me, but then I went to the Museum of El Bierzo, too.  They were all free yesterday.  I would like to spend more time there, also in Leon.

I wasn't able to catch the bus to Leon, and because I had booked a room, felt like I should get there. I was offered a cab, it was very expensive, but I took it.  Got me there four hours early.  Found a farmers market and wandered.  Then went to try to find hostel. Then sat at a cafe and ate slowly.  When I checked in, the first thing the clerk pointed out to me was the nearest laundromat.  Did I smell bad? Perhaps. I did want to do laundry. It was in the residential part of town; and it was fast. Went and had a coffee while my clothes washed, and stayed for the dryer.  Later went back to Cathedral (with my laundry in tow.) I haven't been back since 2005, I appreciate the stained glass more now, though I still like the cloister.  I went to a couple other places in the morning before I had to check out.  Still, there's a lot more I'd like to see.

The hospitalero in Villalcazar offered to drive me to Carrion de los Condes because I think he thought I was ill, I'd been coughing up hairballs all morning, I think it was from all the debris in the air the day before.  Anyway, I walked.  It was cold. Fog dropped down in fingers making everything blurry. About halfway, the sun was high enough to hit the fog and make an arc of light, like a rainbow without color.  It was beautiful. It drifted apart and then re-formed a short time later.  So, it was a good walk, and then a long cab ride.  I will book bus tickets ahead of time.  (There was only one daily bus.) Cheers.

Fogbow, walking to Carrion de los Condes, L Herlevi

Happy Friday

Four-leaf clover/L. Herlevi 2013

Waiting for my sheets to dry so I can leave

And a lot of posts today. 14) There's an idea out in the world that life is suffering and the best one can hope for is to endure it, or endure it with some kinda' grace maybe. I don't buy it. I think we (as a species) are capable of so much more. You can see evidence around you if you look for it. Maybe it's not sustainable 24/7, but it's possible. Misery's not really sustainable 24/7 either. 15) If there's a scenic route, I'll usually take it, or took it. Apologies for my lateness. 16) I get excited about all the reading possibilities when I enter into a library or a bookstore. 17) I love sitting around a campfire with friends (new or old) and singing songs and making s'mores. Need to find excuses to do it more. 18) My garden is in a general state of neglect (as are my eyebrows.)  I will go visit soon. The garden that is, the eyebrows will have to wait.

Later. Much later than I thought. Stopped to eat something before continuing on to the garden. Read a few magazine articles. Sun hadn't set yet when I got there, figured I would mostly just harvest a few things, lettuce, artichokes, over-ripe cauliflower, water and go. A strange man walked into the garden where I was alone. Asked me about a plant, what I knew about it. I finally figured out what he was talking about, knew the name, couldn't remember anything about it. Suggested he go to the medicinal garden at the University and ask. Tried to describe where that was. His words left his mouth as if he were just learning how to speak, he refered to a street as "that famous street with the shops."As he was leaving me, he pointed out that the moon was out (which is odd only in that it's the sort of thing I would do.) I had to finish watering and chop up some fennel. I saw him in the distance again, almost no one else in the park. Somehow, we didn't cross paths again. The sun had set by this point. Only a couple people left, further away from where we were. The sky was still light, I stopped by a video store on my way home. While I was wandering around they made an announcement that they were about to close. It was 10 pm already. Keep forgetting it's almost solstice. How did that happen?

Got my movies and continued to walk home. Ten blocks from home, the only sound I could hear was the flow of steady traffic on the freeway. Every-couple-of blocks a car would rattle past me up the hill, tail lights disappearing around the bend. The stop-lights had switched to blinking red, sky still pale in the west, stars beginning to emerge. Once, the clatter of bottles behind a fence.  Shrill cry of a killdeer briefly cutting through the silence then, just as suddenly subsiding. Then one, then a second plane flew overhead. Probably too late to watch a movie now.