Back on the Ignatian Camino again, we find ourselves in a different landscape today. We have taken the bus out of the city to the edge of the Monegros Desert. We begin at Vente de Santa Lucia which is a small coffee shop along the highway where we receive our pilgrim stamp. As we enter the Monegros, the climate is dry and barren, but we are awed by the vast, open space. The vegetation is sparse with an occasional juniper pine shrub that dots the horizon. Yet, there is a beauty here that catches our attention. Hawks soar in the sky overhead, searching for the rabbits that hide in the underbrush. Lizards dart across the path as we walk. The wild sagebrush is aromatic in the heat and the colors of the grasses are muted silver, gray and gold.
We focus on the horizon, as we know we will not encounter any towns or villages along the way today. It gives us a chance to go to interior places and ponder how we came to be on this journey, now in this desert. The fertile river valley no longer accompanies us, but we are grateful for the companions who steadily continue on this camino path. At the end of the day in our evening examen reflection, we realized the dryness of the desert has been fruitful for us all.
