A friend of The Amazing Susan who had been following my blog and FaceBook posting recently noticed that I hadn’t posted much in July and August. It’s not for the lack of things to say, but rather that I have been giving more time and attention to other writing. In between the business of living and writing, we also had Summer trips to California and Georgia. It’s good to be back home, settling into our Fall groove. This post should catch things up for the curious.

Meseta Memories

During my walking Camino I encountered the Meseta. This is 138 miles of largely flat tableland located between the Spanish cities of Burgos and Leon. The Meseta has few hills or trees. It has many flat farms with row crops, large skies, and fewer towns and villages.  For the pilgrim walking through the Meseta on the Camino Frances (the nearly 500-mile route I took), this middle stretch is traditionally viewed as an “internal Camino” (a mind game, in plain English). Its sameness, compared to the beauty of Navarra and La Rioja, is stark. It forces you to look inward and confront making your peace with things that don’t continually amuse you. You make up silly walking songs and have detailed conversations with yourself. At least I know a certain guy from Richmond, Virginia who did this.

Walking this stretch is a meditation and repetition of days. One foot after another, 192,094 times (which was my actual personal step count for my time walking across the Meseta), over seven days. During this time, I was fighting respiratory issues and struggled for adequate breathing. I blogged less. One foot after another. I positioned myself to be surprised by what each day revealed. In the relative sameness of geography, I discovered beauty and community. I just had to keep my eyes and heart open to look harder.

This summer I’ve been reflecting on the Meseta and its life lessons. It’s a quiet reflection as I put one foot after another. Ever forward.

California

Spain reminds me a lot of California. The climate and lands have a similar feel, a shared beauty. In July, The Amazing Susan and I traveled to California for a week. The main reason for our trip was to disburse the cremated remains of my mother and stepfather in a private ceremony on San Francisco Bay near the Golden Gate Bridge. I didn’t write about this. It didn’t feel very sharable at the time, so Susan did much of our sharing and trip photos for the both of us. This included our time in San Francisco, Sonoma, Berkeley, the Gold Country, and Yosemite. It was a whirlwind tour of the best of Northern California.

The missing part of the story was our informal memorial time and remembrance of loved ones long passed. Their passing is not news – my mom passed away in 2012, and my stepfather passed away last year. I’ve long ago cried those tears. I’m now at a brighter place of savoring their memory. The disposition of their ashes was the last unfinished piece of settling their estates. It was a good time of remembrance for the eight family members and close friends who shared the trip on the Neptune Society boat.

I firmly believe that memorial services are meant to grieve lost loved ones, and, perhaps more importantly, to recall the positive examples of their lives so we can reflect and remember to live better. To stand on their shoulders as we reach for our own bit of bluer skies. In the language of the Camino, Ultreia et Suseia! Forward and upward.

Atlanta!

Eleven days later we drove 500 miles to Atlanta with my youngest daughter, a rising high school senior who is checking out potential art schools for college. She took along a high school friend who is also in the same art program and who is similarly looking at her college options. We stayed with Susan’s sister and brother in-law (they run one of the top-rated haunted houses in America, Netherworld – check them out!). Laura and Ben are fascinating creative people working hard doing what they love. The girls got an amazing behind the scenes tour of the haunt, thrifted hard (Atlanta’s Little Five Points neighborhood is great for this), and toured SCAD Atlanta, an art school in downtown Atlanta. After all this, we drove to Lake Lanier, northeast of Atlanta, for a quick visit with Jennifer and Jay (Susan’s youngest sister and her husband). We spent a bit of time at their lovely lake house and enjoyed some water sport adventures. It was the first time on the water for the girls. They made some great memories.

Back at home, the grandgirls are back at school and we are all stepping back into our school year rhythms. One foot after another, then keep repeating. The school year provides a certainty and structure which I think we all needed.

Write On!

My major project since early July has been writing a novel. It’s a work of fiction in the genre of “magical realism.” This genre can be best described as stories involving realistic people and places that encounter something magical or supernatural. It’s not science fiction – there are no aliens or zombies or trips to Mars or time travel. It’s about a real relationship that is profoundly touched by a completely unexpected series of unbelievable events.

The writing process has been surprisingly easy (it’s still work, though!) and has been truly rewarding for me. It’s been kissed with favor.

I have written nearly 20,000 words, which is equal to about 65 double-spaced pages. A typical novel of this type has between 80,000 to 100,000 words. Working at my current pace should land me with a completed draft by around New Year. After that comes editorial review and publication. Those details are murky and obscured in the pool of the great unknown. I’m counting it all as a great adventure! I do know that my walking Camino helped me recognize that writing is a vital gift for me. The Camino also gave me confidence that comes with conquering an audacious and difficult goal. Walk 460 miles across Spain? Check! Write a book? Sure! On it.

My typical day now has a good chunk devoted to writing 500-900 words and for ongoing self-editing of the story. For this reason, I don’t have much writing left in the tank for social media or my blog. One foot after another. We’ll get there.

I hope you and those you love are doing well. Remember to sprinkle kindness like confetti and to stay sparkly out there!