Mike McClenahan

Rabé de las Calzadas to San Antón We had great conversations along the way to San Antón with new friends and “old” friends we haven’t seen in a few days. We ran into Koishi and Ishiro at coffee. We met them almost two weeks ago in Zubiri. We walked with Kazu into the hostel and met these two retired men from Japan—a few hundred miles away from Kazu. We share broken English and smiles with one another, asking about each other’s Camino. Kazu left them a few days ago because he had to stay on schedule to finish.  The theme of conversation today seemed to be around letting go and loss. A woman from New Zealand shared with us about her breast cancer, father’s death when she was a teenager, and her husband and mother dying within a few months. She giggled as she saw some of her new growth hair fall out into her hat. It’s grown back curly, she said. I’m trying to put it all into perspective and how those I love have prepared the way for my journey. We walked over one of the