When John called and said that Archipelago would be arriving I was very excited. The feeling seemed familiar and I finally recognized it as something akin to Christmas Eve anticipation.

I am honored to be among all of you and look forward to this adventure. However, I am also quite nervous about the worth of my contributions to such a fine group.

During the summer of '87 I went to Europe for the first and maybe only time. My first few weeks were with a tour group, one member was my big sister, who has maintained an air of superiority even as we get older. I decided to stay two weeks longer than the rest of the group and was nervous about being totally alone in foreign countries.

The week before I was to separate from them I had a dream. I was standing when someone tapped me on the shoulder. Turning, I saw it was a friend of mine but before he could say anything I woke-up.

During the day I tried to figure out why I had dreamed of him. The interpretation was in his personal motto which he takes from an Edward Abbey character, "Adventure, always, always seek adventure."

It worked. I had a great time on my own and I consider it one of the best gifts anyone has given me.

So I'd like to wish us luck, good times, enlightenment, and wonderful ponarving in this new adventure.