Church of La Trinidad.

I arrived in Sahagun at about noon. Although the walk was only 15 km,

yesterdays ordeal wore me down and that made today's walk difficult

despite the short distance. I walked part of the way on the highway

because the rocks hurt the bottoms of my feet so bad and got lost a

couple of times since I was off the marked camino. By the time I got

to Sahagun I felt like a cripple: my feet and legs hurt, along with

what seemed like every bone in my body. As I walked, I tried to get

into a "Zen" thing, that is, acknowledging and being with the pain.

Didn't work. What did revive me was checking into the refugio at the

Church of La Trinidad which resembled a warehouse from the outside.

Once inside, however, I experienced the splendor of what is probably

the most sumptuous refugio on el camino. Recently restored, it seemed

like a luxury hotel with modern showers and kitchen facilities. After

a shower and nap, I was beginning to feel halfway human again and

went out to explore the city.

Sleeping quarters of la Trinidad refugio.

Sahagun has a rich history, and at one point was one of the most

influential and powerful monasteries on the road to Santiago. The

monastery was founded in the 9th century and the town in 1085 by

Alfonso VI. A fire destroyed most of Sahagun in the 19th century and

I enjoyed photographing some of the ancient ruins. At this point in

my pilgrimage, I was working on a series of photographs called

"Sacred Corners" which consists pictures of obscure and often

unnoticed corners of the towns and cathedrals I encountered. The

series is based on my perception that often there is a focused

spiritual energy in the quietly ignored corners of some buildings in

addition to the obvious points of power such as the alter.

Sacred Corner, Sahagun.

I was glad to hook up with Bill and Aitor around 7:15 for wine and

cheese, and we decided to have dinner together along with the Basque

family (a couple and their daughter). We found a comfortable little

restaurant and ordered garlic soup, trout, wine, and flan - all for

1,000. pts. This was a great treat for me since I had survived mostly

on food I buy in the local shops and only rarely sit down to a meal

in a restaurant. At dinner we discussed motives for the pilgrimage

with Bill being the most forthcoming and explaining that he wanted to

follow a tradition begun by his ancestors who migrated west from

Chicago. We stopped for coffee at a little place near the refugio to

end a perfectly pleasant and relaxing evening.

That night I had a dream that was very simple but felt like a

revelation: the strict present is the key. The secret is that

everything seems to happen in the past or the future and we never see

the present.