Less than six months

     In less than six months now, I'll truly be on my way. My plan is to fly into Paris in the early morning of September 4, 2015, find my way to the train station at Montparnasse and get a ticket on the high-speed train to Biarritz. I will spend the night there, catching a smaller train the following day to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. I'm hoping to find a pilgrim place to stay there, spend the following day there recovering from jet lag and adjusting to the altitude, not to mention calming my nerves, and then, in the early morning of September 7, Labor Day here in the states, put on my boots and backpack (hopefully by then no more than 10% of my weight), and begin my Camino, starting up the steep slopes of the Pyrennes on the Route Napoleon, weather permitting.
   That will, no doubt, be my first test of how open I am to accepting what the Camino has to offer. If the weather is poor, the Route Napoleon may be closed, and I'll be forced to forego one of the highlights of the Camino, the walk over the top of the mountains. I'll have to take an alternate, lower route, around the mountains, even though I read that it has its own challenges. I wish I could say that I'm completely ready for that disappointment, but I know that I'm not. Not yet, at least. I do hope that I can walk that route, stay at the intermediate stop at Orisson, and then complete the walk to Roncesvalles the following day. Only time and the weather will tell.
    Meanwhile, I am still here in Missouri, getting ready, readying my body and mind and spirit. On the bed in the upstairs guest room, I have spread out all the gear I have accumulated, most of what I'll need. I continue to make decisions, change my mind, ponder, weigh the pros and cons of this or that, weigh each item literally on my little scale and record its weight, with the plan of adding it all up in time to see just how much I'll be carrying on my back. That may change my mind on any number of things. 
    As of now, I'll be carrying my Deuter 45+10 backpack (3 lbs 4 oz), meaning that it has a little additional top space where I can store extras, like food for the day. It's a shade of green that repelled me at first, because it felt a little military, but which I've grown to like quite a lot. Strange how familiarity can breed attraction. Now it feels like an earthy color, which I love. I'm taking a sleeping bag which is only slightly more heavy than a lighter mummy-shaped down bag I had originally. The bag I've settled on is a Traveller Snugpak, 31 oz, that is a rectangular shape and unzips all around to open out fully. The mummy-shaped bag felt claustrophobic to me. My other essential piece of equipment is on my feet, my Keen low-rise waterproof boots in a size 9, a full size larger than I normally wear. They feel wonderful right now, with a double pair of socks, liners with a pair of Marino wool outer socks. 
    The rest is scattered willy-nilly on the bed, waiting for a final decision. My mind feels a bit willy-nilly too, as I begin to focus it on the goal ahead. So many questions bounce around my head and heart. But I still have over five months to get ready for this. That's long enough, isn't it?