Signs, Omens, Portents

Sunday, May 29, 2016
Houston, Texas
Camino Day Minus 3

I had planned to take this trip in 2014, as my first major trip after retiring. Cancer intervened, so I postponed.

This past winter I finally felt well enough to reschedule the walk. I had an itinerary and reservations and everything. Then a family imbroglio intervened, and I was forced to postpone again.

Next I found out that my copy of Iberia had gone walk-about–sort of fitting, in a funny way.

I was forced to ponder whether God, or fate, or the stars perhaps didn’t want me to take the trip. Maybe I was stubbornly ignoring the signs and trying to force my will on what should be. I learned quite early in my life that, despite what we are taught and believe, we are not masters of our own fate; things happen over which we have no control.

Then this past Tuesday I went out to lunch at a Chinese restaurant. I almost never eat the fortune cookie, but this time I did. My fortune: “Only those who dare truly live.” Finally, a sign telling me to carry on.