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[Robert E. Spenger]

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure to view the video produced by
GoCamino member and fellow pilgrim Kit Nuzum. I had met Kit at the
refugio in SJPP early in September of 2002, It was my second night on
the road, having started in Saint Palais and he was preparing to start
his pilgrimage on the next day. We left town at different times, but met
up again at the gîte at Hountto where we enjoyed the marvelous Basque
dinner and breakfast and the excellent facilities of the gîte. The next
day we walked together for awhile, with Kit busily taping the gorgeous
scenery of the mist in the valleys and the sheep and ponies in the
mountain pastures. He was especially keen to get recordings of the
sounds of the sheep bells and of the animals themselves. Viewing his
completed work brought back wonderful memories of that day’s ascent of
the Pyrenees. Eventually we separated, each going at his own pace, but
met up again at the refugio in Roncesvalles. Kit was easy to spot on the
road as he was carrying his homemade didgeridoo, which must have been
about five feet long and had a bright blue protective cover. After
Roncesvalles, I didn’t see him again we met up in the bus depot in
Burgos. I was getting a ticket to skip ahead to Sahagun to make up for
time lost and he was taking a side trip to the north to get recordings
of the monks doing Gregorian chants. I haven’t seen him since, but we
have exchanged a few e-mails.

I was delighted when I finally got a copy of his video. Again, it
brought back a lot of fine memories, even though I was present at only a
small part of the taping. His scene showing Felicia, at the entry to
Logroño is a priceless bit of history, since she passed away within
about three weeks after he did the taping. I had apparently been in
Logroño on the same day that he had, but had gone on early and missed
the festival of San Mateo. I didn’t fully realize what I had missed
until I viewed the video and had the chance to enjoy it vicariously.
There were a couple of special surprises in it for me. One was some
scenes of a young peregrina who had brought a cart along. In the first
scene the road is rough and she is carrying the cart. Later, she is seen
pushing it, loaded with her gear, and singing as she went. Since my
fifth lumbar disc is shot, I had considered trying to use some sort of
wheels and had looked into the matter a bit. Fortunately the modern
packs can be adjusted so that most of the weight is on the hips and a
bad back is no longer a serious detriment. As for the wheels, after
seeing Kit’s video, I am glad that I didn’t get carried away by the
idea.

The other surprise was hearing some pilgrims singing the “Chant des
Pelerins de Compostelle” by J. Claude Bénazet. I had heard this for the
first time at the inn in Ostabat, just the night before I met Kit, but
never heard it again until I brought the words and music home and my
wife played it on the piano and sang it. Later I brought it to a pilgrim
meeting in San Francisco and the group there sang it. It was a very
pleasant surprise to suddenly recognize that I was hearing it on the
video.

Anyone interested in the video can e-mail Kit. His address is:

kitaORCASONLINE.COM

regards,

Bob Spenger
rspengeraearthlink.net