Sometimes it seems everyone who walks the Camino de Santiago writes a book about the experience. It’s hard to say something original or interesting about that journey. But in The Way of the Gardener, Lyndon Penner has done just that.
What makes The Way of the Gardener a better than most books about the Camino is the way he brings two things together: the slow plod of a long walk through a strange place, and the rootedness of the plants the walker passes along the way. Penner describes his trials—shin splints, homesickness—and his triumphs—new friends, new insights—in lively prose, but the moments when the book stops to explore the flowers and trees growing alongside the path are what bring the book to life. When I walked the Camino in the fall of 2013—and it’s worth mentioning that Penner also walked in the fall—I did not know the names of most of the plants I was looking at, or their histories. I noticed some things, of course—fields of grapes in Rioja, beech hangers in the Pyrenees, eucalyptus trees in Galicia, blackberries and fennel plants almost everywhere—but I didn’t know much about them. I didn’t know, for instance, that the olive groves I walked past in the Pyrenees have been cultivated in the Mediterranean for thousands of years. And I certainly didn’t know the names of the flowers, wild and cultivated, that I saw.
Penner’s knowledge of botany allows him to pay close attention to the landscapes he walks through, and that attention makes this book worth reading. If I were to return to the Camino some time, it might be a good idea to make room in my pack for a book about plants, or to use one of those identification apps on my phone. I’d like to walk a little more slowly, to take in the things close at hand—something I often have trouble doing, particularly in the afternoon, after a long walk, when I’m tired and mostly watching my feet to make sure I don’t stumble. Penner kept most of his days short, and perhaps that decision is what made it possible for him to stop beside the trail, take notes, think about what he was seeing. The Way of the Gardener is a reminder about attending to the world we walk through, and such reminders are important, at least to me, since I often need reminding about such things.
Works Cited
Penner, Lyndon. The Way of the Gardener: Lost in the Weeds Along the Camino de Santiago, University of Regina Press, 2021.
I don’t know, Ken, you certainly sound like someone who pays attention to the world he walks through, at least as far as I can tell from reading your blog. There’s likely infinite knowledge one could pick and
choose from to have in one’s pocket on an any major walk. How does one choose how to focus one’s attention?
I’m better at being attentive now, but when I walked through Spain in 2013, I wasn’t as good at it.
You DO strike me as attentive, also, Ken: the way you describe your walks around Regina takes us along with you. Thanks for this lovely, well-written, post. It’s a pleasure to read.
I was less attentive in Spain, for some reason. I’m more attentive these days, but I often need reminding.