Thursday Th(ink)s - October 22, 2026

It’s Thursday! How’d I get here so fast? I don’t mean the day of the week necessarily. I mean the time of life. I’m in the Thursday evening of my life. I’m not exactly sure when it will turn to Friday morning. Maybe it already has and I just haven’t noticed. What I have noticed is…

I spend a little more time contemplating. I am not quite as quick to form judgements. I am very comfortable in silence.

Bundle those three things together and you get the recipe for:

One month hiking the Portuguese Camino. Porto, Portugal to Santiago, Spain.

Let me start the story at the end…

Seven kilometers from cashing in our stamped credential cards for a Santiago de Compostela certificate (you know, the teacher’s note that says you successfully completed all the requirements of being a PILGRIM) I walked by a bit of graffiti on a lamp post that read:

“You have 7km to find yourself.”

This made me lol!

People do this hike for as many different reasons as there are people doing it.

What IS the Camino de Santiago?

• It IS an ancient path (or paths), like spokes on a wheel, all claiming Santiago, Spain as the final destination.

• It IS … well, see above. That’s what it is.

It’s still called a Pilgrimage, and the hikers are still called Pilgrims but… let’s be honest… we’re all kinda posers. It’s not like it was in the 9th c when the bones of St. James were “found” and folks started saying, “Hey! Let’s go for a wander and check out the bones of St. James! Maybe we’ll meet some folk along the way, share a brew, and gain spiritual enlightenment.” Okay, maybe it IS like that now.

In my month of wandering, here’s what I came home with:

1. No one with a shred of wisdom EVER said that shoes were not important. But I’ve always known that. Just look at the room that houses my shoes and you’ll know that shoes are my friends. I hiked 472km through Portugal and Spain in sandals. Yes, very Jesus-like, and I felt his pleasure all the way to my happy toes. 2. Don’t be that person sitting on the side of the trail who is begging for a Band-Aid. Also don’t be that person who is sitting on the side of the trail whining that their pack is too heavy because they brought too many Band-Aids. Also, don’t be that person who is not wearing sandals. 3. Never pass by a patisserie. Don’t be that person who is looking with longing at the Pilgrim who is nicely ensconced on the side of the trail, licking their fingers, smacking their lips, and smugly smiling. 4. Always give a wave of thanks to the hundreds of cars that will stop so that the horde of Pilgrims can cross their street. These drivers have more spirituality in their right (most likely sandaled) foot than many of the Pilgrims do. Salt of the earth folk. 5. Slow down and look at the Roman road that is beneath your (beautifully sandaled) feet. This is history! The deep indentation of the smooth stone is from hundreds of years of market wagons taking Bessy to town. 6. Don’t be American. I mean, don’t be the caricature of an American. You can be American. I am. Well, an immigrant, very happily living in California. What I mean (and I’m sure you know what I mean) is don’t be one of THOSE ‘mericans. It’s embarrassing. Especially because Americans are mostly lovely people! Do NOT ask where Taco Bell is. And please, just whisper. 7. Learn to say “Bom Caminho” in Portugal and “Buen Camino” in Spain. Say it to everyone. Say it to the farmer, the cow, the dog guarding the gate. You may still be saying it to the barista back home. 8. Collect your stamps like a kindergartner collects gold stars. Every café, church, and Albergue has a stamp for your credential. Don’t be that person who gets to Santiago with three stamps and a sad face. Be the person who has a stamp from the aproned old woman at her gate (pay her!), the old priest in his tiny church foyer (give your mite to him, too!), and the Galician musician on the bridge (tip him!). 9. Yes, it’s café con leche in the morning. And the milk is gross. It’s shelf-milk. No refrigeration needed. Keep your mouth shut or have some tea. No one cares that you are a coffee snob. 10. Start your day happy even if you’ve been awake since 3:52AM because you unwisely choose espresso instead of white wine at 4PM. Put your sandals on and be happy! 11. Half my kingdom for a safety-pin! We all should have bought stocks in safety pins. 12. Respect the yellow arrow. It’s painted on walls, posts, rocks, and the occasional sleeping cat. You never see the whole route, only the next arrow. And isn’t that life? 13. Beware the fresh pilgrims. About 100km from Santiago, a new crowd joins the trail in clean clothes, new boots, and no limp. They smell like Camino virgins. You’ll resent them for about a day, and then you’ll remember... they aren’t wearing sandals. You’ll pass them and use you smug smile, yet again. But you’ll keep your mouth shut because you’re not a real American." 14. Bring your own pillow. Leave everything at home, except for your sandals, just to have room for your (small, feather) pillow. If both head and toes are happy… shoulders, knees will follow suit.

So that’s what a Thursday-evening pilgrim brings home: happy toes, a credential full of stamps, gorgeously tanned calves, and a new appreciation for real, cold milk.

One last Pilgrim lesson. Medieval pilgrims walked to Santiago hoping to earn a little favor with God. I understand the temptation. Grace and mercy seem too easy. Not hard-earned by my strong heart and sturdy sandals. But I came home with my certificate and a deeper gratitude that the “Pilgramage” was just the gravy of being human and the joy that walking this finite earth brings.

Christ has already walked the whole journey, received all the requisite stamps – birth, death, resurrection – and handed me his credentials. My completion certificate has his name on it. The biblical book of Hebrews says God’s people have always been “strangers and pilgrims on the earth,” looking for a better country. So, I’ll keep walking, slower now, not to get there, but because I already belong there.

As for that lamp post, I never did “find myself” in the last 7km. I wasn’t lost. I was just walking, one yellow arrow at a time, enjoying the company of myself, my family, and the friends I met along the way.

It’s Thursday evening, and I’m in no rush for Friday. But I do look forward to my morning cappuccino – you know, the one with real milk.

Big Brains: “Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” ― George Bernard Shaw

Old Souls:  “Then stirs the feeling infinite, so felt In solitude, where we are least alone.” ― George Gordon Byron, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage

The Ancient of Days: "These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth." Hebrews 11:13 (ESV)

Norma Jean: 
I came home with my certificate and a deeper gratitude that the “Pilgrimage” was just the gravy of being human and the joy that walking this finite earth brings.

Thursday Chat: There’s joy in aging. There’s joy in seeing the world with less time in front of you than is behind you. There’s joy in recognizing that the moments are fleeting but their essence lives in your soul – infinitely. This Thursday, find your lasting moment and breath it in, slow and steady.