3. The Pilrim's Route

Mangfal Canal. Tomasito photo

3

The Pilgrim's Route

My plan was to follow a nearby footpath beside the Mangfal Canal, a watercourse that was dug a century ago to bring water for powering a textile mill in Kolbermoor but which is now a park.

I hoped to follow this canal for a few kilometers to where it joined the Inn River--then imagined I would simply follow the course of the Inn northward until I came to Straubing.

Walking is a very popular sport in Germany so I expected to find well-maintained paths beside the river and to be sheltered from the annoyance of highway traffic the entire way.

My Kolbermoor friends, urban people who love to walk for exercise, usually drive to a pleasing spot, park, hike a bit and then return to their car, so they could not advise me on my pedestrian pilgrimage route. I could have found other advisers, I’m sure, but I prefer to simply walk out and see what develops. I am fond of the adventure of walking into the unknown—through interesting or boring landscapes––because for me, sometimes even the boring times of walking can be the most spiritually rewarding since I am not being entertained by pretty sights but am simply putting one foot in front of the other for what may be many monotonous miles.

Such tedious walking calms and humbles my spirit —as my body tires, my shoulders begin to ache and my legs begin to send pain signals to my brain—those subtle reminders of mortality which can be more easily ignored in the comfort and security of home––reminders that my time using this fascinating and useful body is limited––I should make use of it because someday I will certainly lose it.

Tomasito, 2009


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