Hontanas

Today we encountered the Spanish Meseta - a flat, arid mesa-like area that many pilgrims try to avoid (take a bus instead). From the hostel in Rabé we climbed up almost 100m meters (328 ft) to this flat plain. Thankfully God gave us another day when we didn't have to worry about heat stroke, or sunburn. It was overcast and cool so good walking. I really don't understand those who would try to skip this section. The uphills were gentle with rolling landscape, the flat tops were such easy walking, with vast fields of grain all around, giving a sense of our smallness it's true, and of God's grandeur. So that made for a great day. I've been walking a lot with Skip and Ryan, a father and son from Pennsylvania. We seem to be on pretty much the same pace, at least for now. We've also passed a couple of times, a couple who are walking with their four and a half month old son. Must be the youngest pilgrim we've met.
After two hours walking, we descended those 100 meters on 'Mule killer slope' to a village, only to climb up again and then down to a hostel in a gully there on the Meseta, really the only building within miles (so o of course we had to stop for a snack), back up and finally down into Hontanas were I am staying. It's another small village way off the beaten path, undiscovered except by pilgrims. There's not even a decent road into the village adding to the quaintness and quietness. Thankfully since some way before Rabé we have been away from the busy roads, and on to quiet country lanes. It's been really nice in that sense.
There is a great little 14th century church in the village center with its square tower standing proud over the village. The exterior rock seems to have been restored and on good condition. The interior has a nice rococo altarpiece, but it's easy to see that it's showing its age and could use some restoration to bring back some of the bling to all the gold leaf. Also it, looks like an accumulation of centuries of different styles and stuff without a unified vision. But then they probably rarely have a priest or liturgy. Still the church is the pride of the village.
Maybe we all need to clean out our hearts of the accumulations of hurts and resentments that keep us from truly welcoming Christ.
Hey, I officially have less than 300 miles to Santiago, I've been walking for almost a month, I'm about half way in both time and distance.