How is it that things seem to take on a life of their own? By things I mean inanimate objects that really don’t mean much in life’s big picture. It could be a car, your boots, or in my case, my trekking poles.
For some reason, we’ve always named boats. There was the Niña, Pinta and Santa Maria, the Minnow, the Titanic and of course, the Love Boat. Airlines name their planes, Wow Air has some very interesting names I noticed. Some people name their cars, my daughters named the ones they drove, one was Hubert.
In my case, my trekking poles have a name, not individual names but, collectively they’re “The Girls“. I can’t remember why they chose to name themselves that or why they chose to have a unified identity instead of insisting on being known as individuals. Why not Thelma and Louise for instance. But no, they’re The Girls and apparently they’ve chosen, for their own reasons, to remain a team.
When we first met, shortly after Amazon delivered them, they were just poles. Clean, shiny carbon-fiber and titanium collapsible poles. As we got to know one another, they began to exert their individuality. For instance, one doesn’t like to be forced into the locked position, she’ll do it on her own and when she pleases. Another seems to go through her shoes (tips) faster than the other.
Somewhere in early 2017, they declared that they were, The Girls and I began to think of them that way. On the Camino, if they’d been moved, I’d ask if anyone had seen The Girls. While walking, I’d sometimes talk to them. And, do not judge until you’ve walked across the Meseta, it will do strange things to the most rational person.
The Girls amused me by allowing me to twirl them like batons, sometimes in tandem like airplane propellers. They supported me as I walk by insisting that I sling them across my shoulders and hang my arms on them. When I’m too lazy to bend down, they scratch my foot for me.
This question came to mind when a friend found a new walking stick, she has poles but apparently this stick needed to be found and she needed to find it. Not so much for it’s ability to assist her as she walks but more to ground her and to help her restless mind focus. I asked her if she had a name for it and she told me for now, it’s just Friend, a very good name I think.
Being found by a trekker is not that uncommon. On our last day into Santiago last year, Rick left his poles in the albergue but, a tree branch found him and walked him into Santiago where it immediately broke. Why there? Why not an hour before or in the previous town? There are no answers to these questions and I think that it is just meant to be.
The Girls are just who they are. Rick’s tree branch was intended to get him to Santiago and, no futher. Katja’s new Friend may or may not name it’s self, we’ll just have to wait and see.