Melide to Arzoa, 8 October 2018

Today is Thanksgiving Day in Canada. Tanja, Laura and I are thinking about our families…

A lady from New Zealand took a picture of Diane and I just as we stepped into a pool of light. She had been waiting for the right moment. She used to be a professional photographer. We walk together for a little while and every now and then she stops to take a picture of the trees surrounding us. It is amazing to see how she can see light where we would not even notice it until she points her camera that way.

I always loved to take pictures since the day I inherited my Dad’s old Brownie camera. When I met my husband his idea of a good picture was very different from mine. I would look at the expression on someones face or at the mood of the scene and he would look at the more technical aspects like focus and background. Early morning I meet a couple from South-Africa (the bandana is a dead give-away) who are following the Primitivo route to Santiago de Compostela. Tilla en Fanie. He has the same name as my husband.
I always joke that if my parents had not immigrated to South Africa I would never have met Faan. Today I realize something for the first time: If I had studied Horticulture like I wanted instead of B.Sc. which I was advised to do, I would never have met him either!

I met him in Physics class. Kind of… It was a huge class full of engineering students. At the end of the year the professor asked us what we were planning to do one day. There were two guys who wanted to be astronomers. One of them was Faan.
The following year I was backpacking in the Drakensberg mountains and I could see the stars like I had never seen them before. I was fascinated and read a book about stars to learn more. Then I remembered those two guys… I really wanted to look through a telescope and Faan happened to have one.
We only started dating during the year after that, since he invited me to come to the Physics department where they were building a telescope. That is when we started talking and spending time together and eventually fell in love.

I am very thankful to have him as my husband. He is my best friend and biggest supporter. He has always given me space to be me. Even going on this Camino is a gift from him, since it means that we are not going on holiday together this year and we miss each other…

Tanja, Laura and I are the Canadians in our group and all three of us live in the Toronto area. We did get together in Canada, but since I am pretty slow I have not been able to keep up with Laura at all. Tanja was kind enough to walk with me for quite a few stretches.
Laura gave me a tiny silver Camino scallop a few days ago and I am looking for a necklace to go with it. While Diane and I are in the jewelry store Laura and Tanja walk in. Laura helps me put it on and when we leave Diane managed to capture a picture of Tanja, Laura and me walking together. A precious Camino moment.