Crooked Tree

CAMINO FRANCÉS – Day 6: Monday 14 April 2025 – ESTELLA to LOS ARCOS (22 [+2] kilometres)

If yesterday was ‘Social Sunday’ then today, at least for me whilst on the trail, was ‘Mono Monday’. For the most part of this short day’s walk I was alone, though not uncomfortable with my own company as I was able to push the pace a little. The reason I think for my solitude was my relatively early departure from Estella, and the fact that I kept walking past the coffee bar in Azqueta, the penultimate village on today’s route, in the erroneous belief that I would find a café in Villamayor de Monjardin, the mid-way point of the day’s walk and the last settlement before my destination at Los Arcos. My failure to secure sustenance was not catastrophic however, as I covered the whole section in a little under 4.5 hours. This meant that I beat the forecast rain (by 15 minutes), had a leisurely lunch in the small square of Los Arcos with US friends Niall and Shelley from earlier walking days, and had a quiet afternoon catching up on washing, accommodation bookings, and messages.

The first half of the walk comprised an intermittent climb through the outskirts of Estella and the suburb of Irache, then on wooded tracks up to the two villages of Azqueta and Villamayor de Monjardin. The latter place, at around 700 metres of elevation, was the highest point on today’s trail with some super views to the south-west. From that point the countryside opened up for a gentle and prolonged descent, on a wide path across rolling agricultural land. Here’s how I got on.

Tomorrow we have a somewhat longer day in prospect, to the city of Logrońo, so tonight I joined a group of other pilgrims, a dozen of us in all and from six countries, back in the square by the church, for an early drink and a bowl of paella. A few joined the evening mass, whilst an early night beckoned for the rest of us, in order to regain our strength for the trials of the trails ahead.

The song ‘Crooked Tree’ that I have used for my Blog heading today, is a 2022 composition by American bluegrass guitarist, banjo-player and singer-songwriter Molly Tuttle. In 2017, Tuttle was the first woman to win the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Guitar Player of the Year award and, alongside her band Golden Highway, her live performances exude warmth and energy. Four of us from Hertfordshire were lucky enough to see Tuttle play in Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium last September – with some guest artists also taking the stage to support her first appearance at the renowned venue – a memorable evening indeed.

As for the song itself, ‘Crooked Tree’ is a salutation of uniqueness, and a celebration of difference and of perceived flaws. The fact that Tuttle has suffered from alopecia since a young age clearly lies at the heart of her lyrics:

Two trees in the forest
One was crooked, one was straight
Crimson bark and emerald needles
Growing day by day
And though they looked so different
They enjoyed the rain the same
Side by side

A chickadee had told them
Of a darkness on the land
Spinning blades that came to visit
Carried by a man
And every other tree would see them
Cut down where they stand 
By and by

Oh, can’t you see?
A crooked tree won’t fit into the mill machine
They’re left to grow wild and free
Oh, I’d rather be a crooked tree

The perfect trees were driven
Down the mountain to the mill
They turned them into toothpicks 
And twenty dollar bills
It seemed the more the people took
The more they needed still 
In the end

The crooked trees were left there
After all the work was done
Now they go for weeks 
And never witness anyone 
No one left to tell them if they’re 
Growing right or wrong
But the whispering wind

Oh, can’t you see? 
A crooked tree won’t fit into the mill machine
They’re left to grow wild and free
I’d rather be a crooked tree

People say I’m different
My way of life seems strange
I took the road less traveled 
Twists and turns along the way
But like the crooked tree 
I’m growing stronger day by day
As the clouds roll by

A river never wonders 
Why it flows around the bend
A mountain doesn’t question
How it rose up from the land
So who am I to wish
I wasn’t just the way I am 
Who am I?

Oh, can’t you see?
A crooked tree won’t fit into the mill machine
They’re left to grow wild and free
Oh, I’d rather be a crooked tree
A crooked tree won’t fit into the mill machine
They’re left to grow wild and free
I’d rather be a crooked tree
Oh, I’d rather be a crooked tree

As an aside, I have had a couple of people ask me how I decide upon my Blog headings, and in particular whether I have a pre-set list of songs, ready to go. The answer is emphatically no – in fact I have no idea when I set off walking each morning as to what the eventual song title for that day might be. The answer usually comes to me along the way; perhaps a sight (like a crooked tree maybe) or a specific incident sparks a thought (and a tune) in my head. If nothing comes to me, then later in the day I run through some options that might fit well with the weather, the landscape, with my feelings, or with whatever. The only constraints are (1) that the heading has some relevance to my day’s experience, (2) that that I have not had that song title before, and (3) that the song fits in appropriately with my playlist.