Home at last!

Sally took this photo on Friday when she picked me up from Oakham station. I'm leaning over a little strangely because of the weight of the backpack you can barely see slung over my right shoulder. Not long after I stepped over the threshold - home.

It's been a strange but good weekend. Unpacking and washing everything. Catching up on a little lost sleep from the journey home. Enjoying being with Sally again ... for a bit, at least. She left for a 10 day trip around Ireland with her sister on Saturday morning, so we were ships passing really. It's going to be a summer of travel, I think.

One of my greatest fears about this pilgrimage is that it might be a wonderful spiritual experience while on the road which evaporates as soon as I get back, the kind of divine equivalent of a holiday romance. But signs are good so far that this won't be the case. The prayer continues, renewed and revitalised as I'd hoped, and shows little signs of being unwilling to root in my native soil. The Jesus Prayer, in particular, which has been such a part of the pilgrimage (to a degree that surprised me) still reverberates in my heart all the time. It's become a source of great joy.

What next? This week I begin trying to recover a good pair of wheels and then we'll see. I've still got time available, and it'd be great to make good use of it. Any suggestions, let me know!

I plan to keep blogging in the meantime, for those who might be interested, but perhaps at a slightly slower rate until I can get moving again. Tomorrow, I might introduce you all to Stella ...

///briefing.sharp.shielding