We love the Meseta -- to Hontanas Fri 20 Sep

As I said in an earlier post, the Meseta gets some bad press, and some people bus across it to get to more interesting territory.  Wow, are they ever missing out.  Our first couple of days have been spectacular and the Meseta is sure to become one of the highlights of our Camino.

Pretty much a full moon, setting as fast as the sun is rising:

More moon, saying farewell to a new day:

Lone tree, with wee neighbor, to the left:

Sweet curving country road, slicing through huge swaths of fields, with no fences as far as the eye can see:

Our road into the future:

Never seen so many sunflowers.  Millions of plants, I'd guess.  In this field, part of the crop didn't grow, leaving some of the sunflowers stranded, such as the one in the bottom right corner.  Someone's etched a sad face onto it.  I think that's appropriate, as people living in isolation apart from a community often suffer from loneliness.  What's interesting about this community is that they seem to be hanging their heads, in empathy.  They are rooted in place, so can't move to join the outlier, but they are showing solidarity:

Some of the fields of crops are diseased and blackened. Not as pretty as the healthy green crop above.  But still, with disease, they still produce seed.  And I think they deserve to be photographed. Seeing these crops reminded me of a friend of mine, Dick Hamilton, a retired plant pathologist, who spent his career looking for ways of stopping the spread of disease through crops like this.  Dick and I were members of a couple small groups who met regularly ("Welcome Home", a group welcoming returning Catholics -- I count myself in that number and "Sacred Earth in our Hands", an environmental awareness group).  Dick passed away a year or so ago, was a wonderful man and these fields of sunflowers, both healthy and diseased, brought back many fond memories of Dick.

Just approaching our resting spot for the night, in a valley, just beyond the brim:

Our little town, Hontanas:

We decided to treat ourselves to our own room, in a Casa Rural.  The place had been totally renovated and it was bliss to have a place to ourselves.  Only downside, it was right beside the church, which featured a very loud bell that tolled right through the night (many cease during the night) AND a very loud goose, that also honked throughout the night.  Nevertheless, it was an earplug-free night and we slept between real sheets, freshly laundered. Normally, we unfurl our individual sleeping liners to avoid sleeping directly on less than clean mattresses or sheets.  Only 35 Euros for two, so a great deal:

View of our little town from our window:

The bells: