The winter closure of a popular guest address
Machteld Meij and Ronald Baksteen have a guest address in the Hatertste Vennen, almost halfway along the route. A place where pilgrims have a house in the middle of nature for a small fee. With art by Machteld on the wall. Machteld sent in a nice piece about the change of the guest season.
Today is November 1st, the first day of a new month, but also the beginning of the winter season. As if nature is aware of this date. It is a bit foggy, the grass is littered with fallen leaves in many shades of brown. Thick dewdrops hang from the grass that is just a little too high. It should have been mowed a long time ago, but the weather didn’t cooperate.
I wave goodbye to the last pilgrim of this year of the Walk of Wisdom . We have been a guest address since the establishment of this meditative walking route around Nijmegen and every year we receive dozens of pilgrims who spend the night with us on their way. The days are getting short, too short to reach our house in the middle of the forest in time, before it gets dark. For this reason, too, we will stop offering overnight accommodation after the autumn holidays.
The last pilgrim of this year. It also makes me a little wistful. It will be quiet again for the next few months. No more chatting over the welcome cup of tea. No more making breakfasts. But also no more worries about a lost pilgrim who can’t find his way in the dark.
We told the last guest that we were stopping now. He had understood that because of our age we would stop offering a place to sleep altogether. In the guestbook there was almost the plea “please don’t stop with this possibility to spend the night during the trip. Only do it for a few months a year, but it’s so nice here for a pilgrim who is searching.”
No, as long as we can do it, we provide a warm room and a nice bed for our pilgrims, but not for everyone’s peace of mind when it’s winter time. But I will miss it in the coming months.
The often tired pilgrims who are happy with bed, bath and bread after a long day of walking.
Machteld Meij
