Back home!! We returned this week to Atlanta. Marveled at the Japanese maples. Enjoyed the single leaves shapes, sizes, and colors. And the blooming native azalea. And even the sharing by a bluebird and a chipmunk. Picked up down branches from recent storm. Grilled on the Big Green Egg. Paid my quite large Visa bill. …
Category: 2023 Via Francigena
549. Solitude and Prayer
The first several hours of a day are special. I’m fresh; I’m expectant. After some form of breakfast, I start walking. Normally, these early morning hours are my hours of solitude and prayer. If I’m walking with others, I try to politely say that I’m going to lag behind. Most of the time, nothing more …
548. Attending to Sadness
While I’ve finished this portion of the Via Francigena, my habits on the VF continue. One habit is to pay attention to my feelings as elicited by my surroundings. So, here in Annecy, France, I’m paying attention to sadness. In Annecy, fifteen days ago a knife-wielding Christian Syrian refugee attacked four toddlers and children. Thankfully, …
547. Black and White Photographs of Church Interiors and Exteriors
Although I’ve finished walking the Vi Francigena for now, I still hope to write a few more posts. This post simply contains photos that I converted to black and white. The most basic motive for these photos is that I wanted to experiment with a simplifying of compositional elements. The interiors of churches are challenging …
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546. Christian Religious Sensibility in Europe
I have finished walking this part of the Via Francigena. While my feet have finished, my head is still trying to catch-up with what my eyes have seen. When I travel, I always look for signs of religious sensibilities. These signs can be obvious: women pilgrims visiting a Shiva temple in Tamil Nadu, a Rangoon …
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545. Saint Bernard Pass
I’m feeling better. Thanks for thinking of me. Others have gone and are going through so much more, I’m rather self-conscious about writing about the food poisoning; however, that problem has been part of the journey. It is also part of life’s perennial question of how do we acknowledge our own situation without becoming obsessed …
544. Old Plans and New Plans
There are plans…and then there are new plans. I have planned two days to reach the Saint Bernard Pass from Orsieres. Probably about 7.5 miles each day with 1000 meter elevation gain. Our actual trip has taken only 30-45 minutes. An obvious story here. Walking from Sembrancher to Orsieres, I enjoy Wednesday. No rain. Only …
543. Food
Sigeric never had it so good. Food, different types of food. Traveling in 990 CE through Switzerland, he would have eaten porridge, heavy breads, apples, beans and peas. Probably no meat, unless wild game. At the higher elevations, nuts, berries, mushrooms, dairy products. Again, only the wealthy ate meat apparent. There was no sugar, no …
542. Resting on and off the Via Francigena
Sometimes a God-placed bench is restorative. I have been surprised by the number of good benches! I desire more than a good dinner and a quiet, good night’s rest. I want a more prolonged “down-time,” a more enduring, rejuvenating experience. Not everyone agrees with me. I know that Sigeric disagrees. His 80-day itinerary to Canterbury …
541. Wayside Crosses and Crucifixes
Wayside Crosses. Physical Markers. If you look out a car or bus window, you see many of them. When you walk, you see every single one of them. Wayside crosses. One author estimates that France has 100,000 stone, wood, or metal crosses. Wow! We are familiar with roadside crosses in the USA. Sadly, many of …
Journeys: Explorations in Body, Mind, and Spirit 