A Little R & R

Time to celebrate by returning to normal life. Embracing the mundane.

I started my transition from Peregrina with a taxi ride from old Santiago to the airport. No, I’m not skipping town for parts unknown. I needed to pick up the car in airport parking at Lavacolla. Jeff flew out and texted me where I could find it. I had the key.

I’m sure I looked interesting getting out of the taxi with my backpack, entering the terminal, then heading down to the parking garage. I mean, what Pilgrim doesn’t leave their car in airport parking while they walk a 40 day Camino? I hear it’s all the rage these days.

It felt weird to drive. It has been awhile. Since I was close enough to downtown Santiago, I decided my celebration would take an unconventional form. A reflection of myself. So I headed to the book section at the gigantic El Corte Ingles department store. You can’t carry real books in a backpack for 800km. And I like real books. So marking this accomplishment with heavy things seems like the right thing to do. And readers make better writers. If you know a good story when you read it, you will know good writing when you write it. And I have a great deal of writing to do after crafting stories in my head over hundreds of hours of walking.

I took my time and bought five of the thickest tomes available. Are they a good read? We shall see. But I liked the weight in the bag. Books in ingles are no more expensive here than in the US. Sometimes they’re cheaper. The difference is that most of those available, with a few exceptions, are by UK or Irish authors. Books I would likely not have read in the US.

Then I treated myself to a poke bowl at Mercado de Boanerges It’s one of my favorite restaurants in Santiago and it’s practically next door to El Corte Ingles. Healthy food. Veggies. Salmon. And a lovely atmosphere with nice staff.

Sated, I made one last swing back through El Corte before heading home, to the Hipercor. It’s the gigantic grocery store inside. And they have a gourmet section. Maybe a thousand different kinds of cheese, fruits and veg, cider and wine. Plus a ton of foreign foods i.e. stuff we miss from living in the US. And good natural foods and produce. It was time for a big shop. Like going to Costco.

On the way to the farm, over hills I had just walked, our contractor reached out. There was no rush getting home. He has Covid and couldn’t make our meeting. So a bit more Tranquila, Kelli will be required. Surprise! But, truly, his health is more important than Construction. I can wait.

Today, I decided I deserve an entire day of doing nothing. Reading, a little writing, and napping. Lounging in my jammies. It turns out, a little more tranquila is just what I needed anyway.