January 2

On New Year's Eve, we watched an excellent movie that I would recommend.  It is called, "The Way," and stars Martin Sheen as a pilgrim following the "Way of St. James," a route starting in France and crossing over into Spain.

The character played by Martin Sheen is on the golf course when he receives an overseas call on his cell phone.  A policeman with a pronounced French accent informs him that his only child, his son, has been killed on the first day of his pilgrimage on "The Way," a worn route taken by pilgrims since the Middle Ages.

Sheen's son is a scholar, a sociologist, who loves to study different cultures and peoples.  He had decided before leaving on the trip that he would abandon his Ph.D. program and instead concentrate on being with people, not just studying them.

When Sheen goes to the small French town to identify his son and claim his body, he is alone with the enormity of it. 

Then he makes a momentous decision; he will walk the trail called Camino de Santiago to Galicia, the site of a famous and beautiful Romanesque cathedral where the remains and relics of the apostle, James the Great, are interred.

Soon you feel like one of the pilgrims yourself as you watch the movie.  An unlikely band of travelers forms and you get to know why they are making their pilgrimage.  There are as many reasons as people, but some people definitely make the trip for selfish reasons, others for reasons so profound that they can scarcely iterate them.

The backdrop for this movie is the gorgeous countryside, bucolic fields with sheep, and here and there an amazing sculpture designating another milestone along the way.  It takes about a month to make the trip.  There are a number of different routes to take, but the one that the band of four chooses takes them through Pamplona, the city where they have the running of the bulls.

I don't know anyone that can't get something out of this movie.  Getting a good look inside the cathedral is worth it. 

It was out in theaters some months ago, and I found the movie for $5 at Ollie's.  We're going to lend it out to family members and friends.

Well, it's January 2 today and the OSU clan is celebrating.  That was quite a win last night; sloppy but good.  I stayed up for the whole thing and will surely pay for it later today when the adrenalin runs out.  Might be a good day for a Keurig cup of coffee!!

Have a wonderful day, readers, and Happy New Year!!