trekking poles

[Robert Spenger]

On my year 2000 pilgrimage, I went through several roadside finds in
France until I had a pair of sticks that satisfied me. They were chosen
for "character" as well as utility. Later, when I was somewhere in the
middle of the Spanish section, I happened by a building with a sign
proclaiming that it was some sort of home for the elderly. One of the
residents (I'm sure he was younger than me, i.e. just a kid in his
sixties) was out walking with regular curved handle cane, all varnished
and polished. He looked at my gnarly sticks and, with his lip curled in
a sneer, said, "Feo!" I just shrugged and kept walking. I should have
retorted, "Fuerte!" Unfortunately, I had little confidence in my
Spanish and was not ready with an appropriate smart--- comment. On
another occasion, a young man, in a bar where I stopped for a snack,
walked over and just stared at my sticks without a word. From the look
on his face, I was convinced that he viewed them as something
diabolical.

regards,

Bob S.

On Jul 28, 2004, at 6:53 PM, Jim Greer wrote:
>
> I gathered a rather distinctive one from a fallen branch.  It made
> for an instant topic of conversation with most pilgrims I encountered
> along the way.
>
> Jim G
>