Yet another cool site

Here's another cool site, available in many languages, that breaks down each stage of the Camino with information on the cities & towns, as well as the trail & its elevation. I like it a lot better than an earlier link that I found. It also includes hotel/hostel booking information, so you can see what hotels are available in the major town & what the prices are if you want to take the occasional rest day.

www.mundicamino.com

Political blog--Sorry, but I'm mad as hell about this!

Okay, it's time to meander back into the realm of politics, so feel free to skip over this blog if you want. I just have to vent about the latest development at AT&T & its illegal, unconstitutional violation of my & all other consumers' privacy rights. Here's what I sent the San Antonio paper this morning in response to this article:

http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/stories/MYSA062406...


My letter:

AT&T does not care for or respect its customers' privacy, despite its "assurances" in today's paper. AT&T violated its own privacy policy and the U.S. Constitution when it turned over private information on its customers to the federal government without a warrant. To add insult to injury, AT&T changed its privacy policy to insist, as a requirement to receive its services, that customers "agree" that their personal data no longer belongs to the customer but to AT&T, which can do with that information what it will. That's extortion!I saw the CEO's "testimony" before the Senate & was struck by his arrogance in refusing to answer direct questions, as if to say "I don't care what the law is, I'm going to do what I want & there's nothing you can do about it." Our do-nothing corrupt Republican-controlled Congress will once again roll over & play dead, but we consumers, Republicans & Democrats, liberals & conservatives, can vote with our pocketbooks now & vote for candidates who value the Constitution & consumer rights in November. If you value the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution, if you value your right to privacy, find another telephone and internet provider that shares your values. Cancel your services with AT&T when you can & tell them why. Drain AT&T dry. Money is the only thing these crooks in three-piece suits understand & is the only weapon we have against their illegal, corrupt actions. It's too bad that Qwest, the one company that had the guts to stand up to the feds & insist on a warrant, does not offer services in Texas. It would make it much easier for me to tell AT&T to pound sand.

I got my Pilgrim's Credential!

I recently joined the American Pilgrims on the Camino & sent in an extra donation for credentials. I didn't request one, however (I think), since I'm not planning to go until next May. Still, it's good to see what it looks like, even though I now have to keep track of it for a year.



The card is from Kathy Gower, welcoming me to the organization & the picture on the front is a drawing of Notre Dame du Bout du Port in St. Jean Pied du Port, where I plan to start my Camino. The artist is Eric Doud.

In the middle you see a flower vase shaped like the Virgin Mary that was given to my mother when her first child, my sister Georgia, died a few hours after she was born in 1961. While some in my family are Catholic, my own famly was not, but Mom always appreciated the kindness that the Sisters who ran Spohn Hospital showed to her during that time. In addition to flower arrangements such what was in the vase above, the Sisters gave my mother a small statue of St. Francis of Assisi. She kept him in the laundry room & it was one of my favorite things in the house, even though it was your generic St. Francis statue where he's holding a rabbit in one hand, a blessing in the other, a bird is on his shoulder, & miscellaneous small animals at his feet. At some point in his career of guarding our house, he literally lost his head, not from having to keep up with our antics, but instead was the victim of a fall or perhaps a move. My dad painstakingly reglued his head back on & he kept watch over us for many more years. Somewhere along the way, St. Francis disappeared, but I'm sure he's still keeping tabs on us just the same.

When I was practically dead of pneumonia at age 3, the Sisters who ran St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Beaumont also were very kind to my mother. When the doctors rushed my mom out of my room because they thought I was dead, the first thing my mom said was "Get me a Sister." So, while I'm not Catholic, I have much respect & high regard for those Sisters, Fathers, & Brothers who dedicate their lives to serving God & give help & comfort to us lay persons.

A really cool link!

A slideshow of "las flechas amarillas" by Grant that was posted to the GoCamino email group:http://elcaminosantiago.com/Spain_Flechas/album/index.html

I have gotten some training advice from my friend Hope who trained for a marathon while she lived in my town last year. Specifically, I needed advice on where to practice "hills," since the South Texas terrain is largely flat. Here's what she told me:
"spinning helps you w/ the muscles you'll need to ascend. One suggestion is to walk up the hill in Laredo from that creek thing up to around your house.(Me: aka. Mount Laredo) It's a pretty good hill. You can walk up and down Clark as there are sidewalks. There is also a decent incline/decline on Loop 20 between TAMIU and Casa Blanca that I used to run on a lot. I think it will definitely help to do more walking to develop walking muscles...plus it will help you train outdoors w/ outdoor conditions (heat, wind, etc.). Start just walking, then add handweights, then a backpack...it definitely helps to get used to carrying weight on your back b/c your back and shoulders need to get strong. Another thing I used to do in Laredo for "hills" is go to the track at the Elementary school (or Middle School?) on Del Mar, between Lindenwood and McPherson--there are bleachers there and you can go up and down all you want. It's open to the public in the evenings and in the AM from 5-7:30 or so, or at least it was."

These are much better suggestions than what I had in mind for "climbing hills" in Laredo, which was basically walking up & down the stairs at the Courthouse parking garage downtown.

A passage found on a Camino board, which I think will be appropriate to mediate on during the walk:

"'Withdraw into yourself and look; and if you do not find yourself beautiful as yet, do as the does the sculptor of a statue.... cut away all that is excessive, straighten all that is crooked, bring light to all that is shadowed.... do not cease until there shall shine out of you the Godlike Splendour of Beauty; until you see temperance surely established in the stainless shrine.'For me, this quotation from Plotinus became alive on the Camino."

Here is a link to a map showing the Camino Frances, which I will pick up at St. Jean-Pied-de-Port, in northern France, close to the French-Spanish border: http://www.humnet.ucla.edu/santiago/spancmno.html