Anticipation Builds

As Geoff shares his pre-walking days in France, I'm in the final stages of training here at home. Before he left, we talked about how the last couple of weeks of training are difficult - all the trails at home seem overly familiar, and you just want to get over there where it will all be new again! My last two walks - with my friend Jennifer around Elk and Beaver lakes and my solo walk today - have been a real treat. As sometimes happens, today's walk brought me a poem which pretty much tells the story. I even took a few pictures along the way. I've got just under two weeks until I leave to join Geoff, and these last two walks have reaffirmed the joys of the Camino and the pre-Camino experiences.

Cadboro Bay in all its glory

 These pianos are a great addition to our parks!

 Walked this way many times, never before discovered this building

My lunchtime view...

Drinking in the Pre-Camino Beauty

Camino training can become somewhat mundane

As we repeatedly visit the same terrain

I set out this morning to see where my feet would take me

I thought it would be more of the same, but that was not to be

It started in a familiar way, through the woods to mystic vale

A pretty day, warm – not too hot – still a familiar tale

A ticker tape of thoughts and reflections paraded through my brain

Making the most of my solitude as I train

When I approached the water at Cadboro Bay

 The splendour in front of me took my breath away

Out popped my camera, an unusual occurrence

A view like this called out for digital transference

Gratitude for this place, this day caused me to pause

Re-evaluate this walk, what is the cause?

To drink in the beauty that surrounds me every day

Being open to whatever draws me in along the way

I turn left, not right, because today I want to walk beside the water

Through Uplands on my way to Willows I wander

An elderly woman entertains at the piano on the beach

We gather and listen - communally appreciating without speech

Lunch with a view appeals to me now

I secured a corner window table with flowers, I don’t know how

Turning toward home through shaded streets

Enjoying the quiet and the castles of the elite

Back into Mystic Vale on trails heretofore unexplored

How could I possibly think I’d get bored?

My mind is busy as I wend my way home

A refreshing shower awaits before I finally release this poem