last-minute details.....

ok, so....my installment-plan pilgrimage starts tomorrow, and there are still so many loose-ends to be worked out, details to be divulged to family and final decision made on what essential wardrobe pieces must be packed and which left behind.....Since our last big trip mother and I have worked out her funeral arrangements and paid for these plans in full...must remember to make sure the eldest knows where the folder is kept.....I have stockpiled several frozen meals as well as purchased gift cards to places that my mother enjoys either sit-down or carryout....both for the convenience of my son and daughter who will share in her care while I am gone, but also for mother's entertainment.....she does so love to eat out. I need to make sure the eldest knows where our will is kept.....which bills are paid directly from my checking account and how one can access them....just in case.....paper bills no longer arrive at the house so the first sign of non-payment could be the termination of phone service or electric or both....of course, I do not intend to die suddenly while I am away, nor do I really believe that mother will do likewise....but if I do not prepare for the worst-case scenario, that is precisely how things will work out....as for other details, my spouse and I had a good laugh last evening when it was determined that I speak Spanish about as well as I speak Italian, which is not very well....in such situations where no English can be spoken I always revert to be rudimentary understanding of French punctuated with sign language and gestures.....at this point language barriers are the least of my worries.....I am concerned about the potential for storms and/or rain (in Spain) and whether or not it will fall mainly on the plain, or on us as we hike across the Pyrenees, about getting too hot or too cold, about where I shall find relief when nature calls.....and that is assuming that with adequate pacing of our hike I can complete each day without throwing in the towel and calling a taxi.....as numerous folks have done before me...the ladies in my Sunday school class have assured me that it still counts if I pay a taxi to drive my pack to the next Refugio..... heavy sigh.....I have not been to Spain since 2002, and I am certain that much has changed....we shall be in BCN just ahead of the independence vote...which should be interesting.....and we are fighting a terrorist war, which frightens me to no end.....but I will soldier on with my travel plans, because to d otherwise would be letting the terrorists win. Pray for us....