[Gocamino] hiking sticks/poles

[Blaroli@aol.com]

Hi Patricia,
My walking stick is 4 ft. long and it has a slightly bent knobby head which 
comes in very handy.
 I've never used to defend myself from, or threaten, dogs since I've never 
met other than sleeping or  friendly  dogs.  My only rather serious encounter 
with a dog happened  in Galicia one time when I followed a herd of cows that was 
being led through a town by a Galician woman and a big dog.  I stopped to 
look at them all and take pictures,  and the dog began to nudge me to keep on 
walking  with the cows. Being 5 feet tall and weighing 100 pounds I know better 
than to displease a large dog...I walked  "with the cows" trying to fall behind 
to talk to, and be rescued by,  the shepherdess.  The woman told me that the 
dog had interpreted my attitude and behavior as that of one belonging to the 
herd.
Somehow I took it as a big compliment and couldn't wait to get home and tell 
my little four-pound Maltese, Chris, about it.
The stick (or "third leg" as the Spaniards call it) has been of great help 
going up hills and mountains, but I have found it invaluable coming down, 
particularly when it rains (quite often) and the water runs rivulets between your 
feet carrying little pebbles and becomes  terribly slippery.  I would estimate, 
conservatively, that the stick has kept me from sliding and falling and 
breaking bones, hundreds of times. 
  You will need to prepare to bring the stick back before you board a 
plane...., particularly if you get a long one  with a metal tip that won't fit in a 
suitcase. You may have to have it packed in a cut-up and 
retaped-for-the-purpose cardb oard box and hope that it doesn't get lost....... Or, if you speak 
Spanish (and it seems that you do) and you are flying Iberia, you can turn on the 
Latin charm and inform the "uzufratas" that your stick was blessed at various 
times in various places, etc., that you owe it your survival, etc and you 
don't want to risk its getting lost., and ask them kindly to put it in one of 
their cabins during the flight.  You may also give them a shell or some other 
Santiago keepsake, show then your credential with all the seals, and, if you have 
it, your Compostela.. This is what I have done every time. and it has worked.
As for your sons..... during my last Camino, through the Portuguese Way, my 
physical fitness nut of a son, who is  6'2" (yup!) and his equally tall, young 
and fit bride, gave up walking midway and had to proceed by rented car.
It takes more..... lots more..... than just a body to be a 
pilgrim.....perhaps it takes the soul insights that come with age or with  misfortune.  (Didn't 
Tolstoy wrote that happy people have no history"?)  I don't know.
Warm regards,
Rosina