In The Groove

(Nearly) Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, mom and I wake at 6 a.m. and take an hour walk before school/work. Now, considering I am a high school senior and most days don't have to be at school until 9 a.m., I think this is a HUGE sign of my immense love for my momma.

We've gotten into our swing of things: we both have our favorite knit hats that we wear and we grab a few cuties to eat on the way. We always walk to 24th Street Beach on the pavement (3 miles round-trip) and point out houses that we've never really noticed before, even after 15 years of living here. There's a few people we're beginning to see each day, walking their dogs or running.

Now that Daylight Savings Time has kicked in, we start out in the dark and walk by lamplight and leftover moonlight. By the time we hit the beach, the sun is just starting to come up and the birds are raising a ruckus about it.

Once we reach 24th street. We stop for a moment to glance at the beautiful view, then turn around and go home, to jump in showers, get ready for school/work, and to get hot coffee.

Weekends, we take longer walks -- ten miles last Saturday, past 24th Street Beach and Dog Beach down to the rocky edge of North Morro Bay ("Justin's Point") and back in about 3 hours. It was one of those perfect Central Coast days, bright and sunny, when you can sense summer's heat coming just behind the still-chilly breeze. Everybody was out playing with their kids and dogs, building with sand toys or heaving dog-slobbering tennis balls with those long red hand-catapult things. We settled into a rhythm that was easy but not lazy, broken only when we had to jump the creek near the old Exxon mooring station (Caity cleared it: I got a chance to learn just how quickly my new walking shoes dry out.) Our conversation matched our pace, and we meandered between topics: what goes in the backpacks...when to fit in upcoming college visit trips...re-revisiting the camera issue (NO! AAUGH!!)....and wondering, after trekking Cayucos, how different it will be to walk the hills of Galicia, and the beach at Finisterre...

I know that this routine we're in won't be the same on the Camino, and I'm glad for it. I'm looking forward to a completely new thing, even if it means culture shock, travel shock, everything shock.

And I know that, for both of us, this pilgrimage will be a kind of bridge between life as it has been, and life as it will be once Caity leaves for college. We'll walk this leg of Camino (hopefully making it all 108 miles), return home and, after a whirlwind of prep...she'll keep on walking...

So...here's to the Shared Road, and Grateful Hearts!