following the arrows to dreamland . . .

Two years after walking 500 miles of the Camino de Santiago, I still notice yellow arrows like the ones that directed me across Spain. Occasionally, they are chalked on sidewalks or painted on lampposts. Most often they decorate construction sites. I keep one on my keychain. The paint is flaking off the front, but the back shows a simplified map of the Camino route. It strikes me as funny to have a memento of a long walk hanging next to my car key.

I feel like I'm following the arrows again as I make plans to spend some of this summer strolling through France on a different part of the Camino. One night, when I was having trouble falling asleep, I envisioned yellow arrows, one after another. I saw them stretched out before me, and soon I was dreaming.