Introduction

[Laurie Willhalm]

Hello All,

My name is Laurie Willhalm.  Some of you have already
heard from me. I've been a member of the Santiogobis
and camino-de-santiago yahoo groups for about a year.
And I was lucky enough to be able to attend the
November gathering in San Francisco.

I am planning to leave for Paris on August 30th and to
start walking from St. Jean around the 4th of
September. I am taking 7 weeks off of work and am
hoping to be able to both complete the camino and to
take the time I need in the process.

I've known about the camino for years. I lived in
Spain in the 70s, read Michener's book (I still
remember marveling at how he was able to stand on a
desolate hill and imagine the battles that took place
there or the people who lived there at one time),
studied Spanish history and art. Then in 1997 I
visited my niece who was living there at the time. We
followed the route (by car) from Leon out to Santiago.
And we kept saying how we would do things if we were
walking.

The next year I saw Shirley's book, and HAD to buy it
and read it, even though I'd never read any of her
books before and the new age stuff usually sends me
screaming down the hall with my hands over my ears.
And I knew that I needed to make the pilgrimage.

I have been preparing for about the past year, reading
personal accounts on web sites and in books, looking
at information on refugios, hiking in the hills around
my house, reading about what makes a pilgrimage,
praying and meditating about what this means to me.
Yet, although I am probably more prepared for this
trip than I have ever been for any trip in my life, I
hope to be able to let go and allow the pilgrimage to
carry me.

Well, that's enough for now. I've been lurking here
for a month; I open my 'mouth' and I can't close it.

Laurie

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