Jill Momper is an extraordinary lady who, at the tender age of 70, is going to walk the Camino for the first time next year.

She lives in a small town north of Atlanta, Georgia. Here she tells us a little bit about herself, and her thoughts and feelings in preparing for the Camino.

JILL MOMPER – 

I’ve never lived more than 50 miles from where I grew up, although I’ve traveled out of the country many times. I belong to a local hiking club and we hike frequently in the North GA mountains near the start of the Appalachian Trail.

I recently started a walking group of retired women. We call ourselves ‘the street walkers’ as we carry out our walks around town on city streets. I can tell you the name raises some eyebrows 🙂

I retired 5 years ago after working in marketing and advertising for 30 years.

I’m not sure what first sparked my interest in the Camino. I’ve gathered together all the articles and books I’ve collected for more than 10 years, and can find no beginning.  Just the date of an article I printed off the internet of September 16, 2003.

I’ve mentioned the Camino in conversation a few times over the years; our church sent the youth group to Spain two years ago and they walked a few miles which brought it back to mind. But it was a chance conversation with my son, where I said I’d always wanted to go but couldn’t find anyone else interested, and he said he’d love to walk with me.

It was the last thing I ever thought I’d hear from him, being a husband and father of 4 small children. It was then I decided to pursue my dream whether he can join me or not.

In February of this year we both attended a meeting about walking the Camino at an REI in Atlanta conducted by Tom Beck, founder of the Atlanta chapter of Americans on the Camino.  He has graciously offered to help me plan my way.

About myself.  I’ve always been a walker, my family were walkers. All the trips I’ve taken in the last 15 years involved hiking. Perhaps my PGS has been preparing me for this?

I am married to a man who hates to walk, which is funny because I plan our vacations and that’s what they revolve around. On our last trip, he said he was finished with hiking. So, that gave me permission to go this one alone.  And isn’t the Camino a solitary experience anyway?

I don’t know why I’m going, I just am.

Everything I’ve read says the countryside is beautiful and it is a life changing experience. What I’d like to do is rediscover the essential Jill, unencumbered by monikers such as wife, mother, grandmother.

Currently, I intend to walk the Frances in September 2014 starting in Leon, but it will depend on how I’m feeling as to how far I can walk.  If not Leon, then Ponferrada, or at least Sarria.

What I fear is that I may have waited too long. At the age of 70 any kind of health issue can arise without warning. I am fairly fit, but my age definitely weighs on me.

I don’t fear the journey, just regrets for not going sooner.

Now that it's the end of summer, I'd be really interested to know how it panned out…

Did the crowds through July and August cause any problems for anyone?

Any accommodation issues?

If so, how did you cope? Did anyone end up sleeping in sports halls or some other make-shift shelter?

Any problems arising from pilgrims being stressed and cranky?

And were there a lot of young people on the Camino during the summer months?

I'm just curious about anecdotal information – particularly it would be interesting to hear from anyone who can compare this summer to previous years…

(Has the movie The Way significantly increased the numbers?)

Here is a photo taken this week at a Camino dinner in Sydney.

Jenny, Britta and Janet.

Three beautiful ladies, who radiate happiness and health and light.

Camino ladies.

So I’ve bought my brace.

In this world of globalisation, I bought it online from a US store, and it’s being shipped to me here in Mudgee, Australia.

It’s costing exactly half what it would have cost, had I bought it in this country. (The same brace – in fact the previous version, not the latest version – is selling here for $1300 including shipping.)

I’m paying $680, including shipping from the US. (At checkout, I got a discount.)

I tried to buy it on ebay, but there were none in my size and configuration. (Right, medial, medium.)

So, hopefully now this will be the first step to healing my knee. Now I have to get these shots into my knee joint, which I’m told cost $500. I guess I can’t buy them on ebay!

My mother told me I should never talk about politics and religion in polite company.

Is this blog polite company? Ha ha – sometimes I wonder!

Tonight in this country we’ll soon know who has won the next Federal election. At this stage, before polling closes, it looks like there will be a change of Government – from the Labour Party (social democrats) to the Liberal Coalition – the conservatives.

I don’t wish to discuss politics as such – but I have to say I am dismayed at the lack of personal integrity of all our major heads of state. I’m not sure if I’ve become too cynical with my shifting from being a young person to an old person (having just turned 60), however I see time and again politicians of all persuasions openly tell lies to gain and hold onto power.

Am I being too naive to expect honesty and integrity from the people we vote to lead us?

Who is there now for young people to respect?

Our sporting heroes get drunk, rape women, and set fire to dwarves. Our business leaders pay 1% tax and use clever highly paid accountants to find tax havens to avoid their responsibilities, while nine-to-five workers have to pay 40% tax and more. Our church leaders protect pedophiles.

Who is there to respect?

There is a small political party here in Australia called The Greens. The Greens advocate the protection of the environment, and embrace policies that are based on ethics and morals. The press and media laugh at them. They call them Marxists on bicycles.

They got my vote.

Intuition often expresses itself in the negative.

I knew I should have done…

You say to yourself: I knew I should have moved the coffee cup away from the edge of the table, when an accident happens and it spills.

I knew I should have checked my spare tire – when later you get a flat, and you discover your spare is flat too.

I knew I should have taken a second set of keys, when you misplace your first set and you're locked out.

You had a hunch, a gut feeling, a “sense” – but you didn't act on it. Because why should you? Then later, you reflect on your intuitive impulse, and you realise that you foresaw the eventuality.

But only because you didn't act on it.

If you'd moved the coffee cup, you would never have known if it would have spilled or not. If you'd checked the spare, you might not have had a flat. If you'd taken your second set of keys, you may not have misplaced the others.

Every day we have prescient thoughts and feelings. This is our PGS tugging at our skirt, or our shirt, trying to get our attention.

Sometimes it becomes apparent in an ah ha moment later.

Ah ha – I knew I should have moved that coffee cup…

George RR Martin, author of the fantasy series of books, A SONG OF ICE & FIRE – more commonly known as the Game of Thrones books – has several characters say: Words are wind.

By that, he means that words have no substance, they are inconsequential, they are ephemeral. They mean nothing. Only actions have substance, not words.

I agree with Mr. Martin – I think words are wind too – but I don't agree with his subtext.

I think words have enormous substance. They are not just puffs of air, they can be tornadoes. They can be hellfire storms. They can wreak havoc. They can destroy lives. Words have incredible power.

But they can also heal, inspire, praise, glorify. They can rebuild shattered lives. They can lift a person, a nation, to greatness. Martin Luther King's famous speech will be remembered for all time. Churchill and JFK too.

How powerful are the words: I love you.

With that power comes responsibility. We are each responsible for what we say, just as we're responsible for what we do.

Personally, I go one further and say we're responsible for what we think, too, because I believe that thought is as powerful as words and deed.

If this blog is different, it's because I require people to identify themselves. Same with my forum. No user-names. No hiding. Let's see who you are. If you have something to say, be accountable for your words.

Take responsibility.

That's what I do.

Here's three words for you to consider –

I am God.

Some random things from today –

My eyesight:

I went to my optometrist today and he ran tests. He was surprised to find, as I’d thought, that my long distance eyesight has improved. He told me it did sometimes happen – particularly as one gets older.

I told him about the Camino and asked if it was a miracle. He laughed, and said he didn’t think it was divine intervention, but even so he was surprised that it had improved so much.

My car:

I put my car in for service. It wasn’t ready when they said it would be ready, so they gave me a loaner. A demonstrator. I had several meetings and as I was parking, I nudged the loan car up against the curb. It scratched the wheel. An itsy bitsy scratch. It will cost me $400.

My blog:

If I’ve lost people from the blog because of this fuss about my indelicate post, then the stats don’t reflect that. As of 7pm, I’ve had more visitors and more page views than I’ve had for months. I don’t have a business model which is based on traffic – I don’t have a business model for this blog at all – but it seems that after putting up the “dwarf on fire” post, more people have come to the blog than have left.

My book:

My book is still being formatted. And I am getting the cover re-designed. I will send it out to those who want to read it when it’s all done, which hopefully won’t be long now. I got advice from a bloke in Chicago who has the Simon & Schuster connection that I will probably make more money, and have more control over the creative aspects of the book, if I e-publish. So that’s what I’ll do in the first instance.

But a couple of interesting things have happened – a journalist mate in Canada has read the book, really liked it, and written a terrific review. (Thank you Larry!) And a high powered literary agent has read the first five chapters, liked them, and now wants to read more. So all that is encouraging.

Camino dinner –

Jennifer and I attended our first Camino dinner last night in Sydney where we met some key people from this blog – Britta, Jenny, Julie, and some others. The New South Wales division of Australian Friends of the Camino is run by Sandra Collier, a beautiful woman. It was a great evening. By the way, Britta at that dinner told me I shouldn’t post the “dwarf on fire” blog, but I didn’t listen to her. I should have!

Thank you –

Thank you to all those people who came to my support over my post. I am very grateful – and also genuinely touched by that support. A blog is, by definition, a personal point of view. That said, I think we’ve spent enough time debating whether I’m a decent bloke or not. Let me tell you straight – I’m not. But each day I get out of bed and I try to be a better person.

I love you all. Sincerely. I do. You are am amazing bunch of people. Even those of you who think I’m a dick.

I have woken up here in Australia to this firestorm about the previous post.

I sincerely apologise if it offended any of you.

Let me explain –

1/. I am not a spiritual person and have never professed to be.

2/. I am a provocative person and always have been.

3/. I am warts-and-all on this blog, and have been from day 1.

4/. What happened with Mr. Johnstone (the dwarf) was not funny.

5/. I put the post up because I wanted to get a discussion going.

The set up as presented by the media treated the incident like a joke – the title for the post was the headline for the story in the Sydney Morning Herald – our equivalent of the NY Times:

Saint sinner sets dwarf on fire.

The media presented it in a provocative and jocular manner, and yet treated it seriously – which is the same kind of conflict I presented in my post.

In this country there has been scandal after scandal here involving footballers getting drunk and doing horrible things, mainly involving women. Nasty misogynist stuff.

This is no different.

Again, I sincerely apologise to anyone who took offence. It was not intended.

However I did intend to provoke thought and discussion. And if in the process of that you make judgements about me, then so be it… I will cite the mantra that got me across the Meseta –

I love you, I'm sorry, please forgive me, thank you.

Bill