Refugio de Peregrinos de Miraz: Newsletter 6th March 2007
A winter caretaker reports:
The changeover of the winter caretakers took place at the end of January as scheduled. The outgoing caretaker (C. Halloran) was just putting the finishing touches to the new slate floor of the lavadero, leaving the incoming caretaker (R. Mullen) free to go to work in the woodshed. The subsequent purchase of a larger and more ominous looking wedge has made it possible to split all but the most stubborn of last autumn´s wood.
There have been two notable absences in the village this winter. Jesús, who´s now in his nineties and suffering from respiratory problems, has been wintering with his niece in Lugo, and Rocky, the canine pilgrim who settled in the village some years ago, sadly passed away at the end of last year.
The garden has had its first trim of the new year and appears to be thriving. The grass is looking more and more like a lawn, and there are now herbs available for the kitchen all year round, as well as fruit and vegetables in season. The water in the new well has been declared apta para consumo humano and no longer contains visible particles.
The centre of the village remains the bar. Sadly for beer drinkers, the price of a caña has soared to €1.20, but a glass of tinto can still be had for €0.50. Pacharan drinkers are also catered for, for a price.
Luis has now completed the electrical work and also fitted a new cistern in the private bathroom. The electricity was knocked out once by a thunderstorm and then a second time, after a solid week of rain, when the box housing the electrics inside the well casing became submerged in water, but all has since been put right.
The gas heater for the water also failed one afternoon, despite there still being plenty of gas in the bombonas. A quick reading of K. Young´s technical manual revealed the problem: the batteries which provide the spark for igniting the gas had only to be replaced and Bob era tu tío.
The Miraz Hospitaleros´Log for last year contained several suggestions worth considering. For pilgrims walking back from Santiago, the return route from Miraz to Baamonde is hard to follow, so how about an autumn or winter working party next season to improve the waymarking? Also, what about a more comfortable chair or two for the more elderly warden/caretakers?
The installation of a telephone - ¡Por fin! - now makes it much easier to keep in touch with the world as well as the neighboring albergues, ferreterías, taxistas, etc. An Internet connection as well as a pay phone for the pilgrims remain for the future, as Telfónica, like the Todopoderoso, works in strange ways, and usually slowly.
Finally, anyone glancing at the Libro del Peregrino will find the following: Paso a paso seguiremos cada uno nuestra senda pero la de Santiago nos une a todos. (Step by step each one of us follows their own path, but the path of Santiago unites us all.) Whether this is original or borrowed, it´s good to have it in the guest book, and it seems a good note on which to end.
Cheers for now,
Bob