Daily Success for an elderly peregrino is symbolized by this statueDaily Success October 20

Daily Success October 20 is again “Disappointing”. There is no excuse. While I did ok on the basics, I simply could not motivate myself to get on the bike.

Importantly, I did get the injections to help my back pain. Kristin found the exact spot where the pain seems to be generated, exact enough to go from “maybe a little discomfort there” to an emphatic “OUCH”. She also gave me a referral to Gaithersburg Regenerative Medicine and Laser Center, so I’m hopeful. On the other hand, she also mentioned, almost in passing, the word “surgery.”

I don’t want to have surgery, but if that’s the answer to this, it will be more than worth it. If it  eliminates the need for gabapentin, so much the better. I’m just not dealing well with the restrictions on my lifestyle and especially on my dreams for the future.

Today

The key to today is to do the basics PLUS get at least a few minutes on the bike. Even a small start, just getting used to it again, is far better than just looking at it resentfully and dreaming of getting back on the treadmill.

Also important for today is getting all the “stuff” that’s been sitting with no attention caught up and all the “stuff” that’s just clutter on its way to the burn bin or recycle box or county hazardous waste facility or …

And make no mistake, the quotation marks around the word “stuff” are there because it’s a euphemism. And there’s more “stuff” to clean up that a single day’s work is enough for.

The Future

It’s clear that the Voie du Littoral will require more effort finding information than is true for any of the Camino routes in Spain at this point. Including the word “France” in any Camino search yields copious information about the Camino Frances and nothing about the nation known as “France.”

Gronze.com has information about the Camino de Arles. That might be an option as I’ve developed an unexpected interest in Vincent Van Gogh. The problem is finding a way from Saint Jean Pied du Port to Irún. No quick answers there. I will keep the Voie du Littoral as the baseline for now.