The best laid plans of mice and men...

...are often smashed to pieces in front of you right before a big guy punches you in the face.  Sometimes straightforward prose gets to the heart of things better than poetry.  For anyone who has been following via Facebook you already know that the last few days have been a little rough on me.  A storm in Chicago closed the airport and delayed my flight from Louisville. When I arrived in Chicago my flight to London was long gone.  They rerouted me through Boston to London but couldn't sort everything out so I was told I'd have to sort it all out in Boston and London as I got there. When I got on the plane to Boston there was a man apperently booked for the same seat. I was told he was on the wrong plane and I was given the seat. Shortly thereafter they reseated him on the flight...in an exit row seat...I'm taller than him.  In Boston the agent at the counter was able to sort things out and print my boarding passes for my last two flights.  By then it was around 6am on Monday and I was 12 hours in.  So on to London! I arrived about 9pm (instead of the original 9am), missing my original flight to Toulouse of course, and found my way to the rectory where I was staying the night with a friend of my pastor.  I got 4 hours of very restless sleep worrying about missing my flight in the morning because the metro doesn't start running until 5:30; though I was able to shower, which by that time was a good thing for everybody.  In the morning I tried unsuccessfully to take an early bus but was fortunately able to grab a taxi who took me to the central station where I could take the express to the airport (a plan which he suggested because it would be cheaper). He then began to give me background history on some of the things we passed (he actually had a second job as a tour guide) and then discounted my fare so that I could pay with the 20 pound note I had rather than with my credit card (also his idea, not mine).  The flight from London was fine, the agent at the gate checked on my luggage and assured me it was on the flight, and I was finally off to Toulouse!  And then they lost my bag.  Mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted I was stuck in Toulouse.  They had no idea where my bag was and I was really afraid that my pilgrimage was going to be over after only three days.  Praise be to God my friend Robert had put me in touch with his friend, Isabelle, in Toulouse. I may be a bit biased, but I am fairly certain she's a saint. All the space I've used to write about about all the bad things I could double with all the good.  Isabelle fed me, let me shower (ever noticed how much travel makes you stink?) and gave me a place to sleep (praise the Lord!).  Today the nightmare is over.  Isabelle hooked me up with Fr. Christopher, originally from Canada, who is letting me stay at the rectory tonight. This morning my pack arrived from London and tomorrow I take the train to Arles.  Praise be to God for His the providential care He has shown for me through this ordeal.  I still have a lot of processing to do before I am ready to share all the beautiful things I have experience here (unless you want to read a 40 page rambling account of what has happened, but I think one of those is enough for this blog); but I will try to get that post up the next time I have internet access.  All I can say now is thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of you for your prayers and encouragement through all of this. You're words gave me strength when I wanted to quit.  My adventure continues, alleluia!

What exactly am I doing?

About this Blog

Welcome!  I'll admit right up front that I'm not much of a blogger, but I'm going to try to make this worth reading.  The purpose of this blog is to chronicle my experiences along the Way of St. James this summer, a collection of medieval pilgrimage routes spanning across Europe and ending at the tomb of the apostle James the Greater in northwest Spain.  Beginning in Arles, France I will walk nearly 1,000 miles over the course of 10 weeks.  To all of you who supported me and made this possible I can only say thank you once again.  The amount of support I've received has been incredible and has reaffirmed for me that this is God's will for my summer.  I don't know how often I'll be able to update this blog along the way since I won't have regular internet access, but I'll try to take advantage every chance I get to let you all know how things are going.  And with that, I'll leave you with my somewhat facetiously chosen theme song for the summer.  Enjoy.