I welcome you, dear Traveler, for joining me as I journey down this road.  You're welcome to walk with me for however long you wish, but I do hope you will stay for a while.  If you've somehow stumbled here to see where this all Started, then this is a very good place *to* Start.  But it is merely *a* Beginning, and there have been other Beginnings during my life as you can read about here.

It is my hope that you will stay and travel with me for a while, for I always welcome a new face to share stories with - the Journey seems to be much more enjoyable when it's shared with others.  But when or if you feel you must leave and travel in some other Direction, then I bid you bon voyage, and perhaps our Paths will cross once again someday.

I start this journal of my Travels with some trepidation and some anxiety but I feel that if I don't start now, then this project will never materialize.  As of right now, I'm not exactly sure where this will lead or how this journal will change or even how long this will last, but it is *a* start nevertheless.  I see this work as an ever-changing tapestry that I will weave and re-weave as I see fit.  Like I said before, this is simply *a* Beginning, and although I feel that this template is somewhat incomplete right now, I will slowly develop it to my likiing.  But the journal starts now, today, this moment, this instant without any further excuses or procrastination.

[My inner critic is screaming at me to stop this at once, but I have turned a deaf ear for the time being.] 

As with any significant project, I feel I have to develop some sort of Mission Statement - in other words, why I am doing this, what are my objectives, what sort of problems I anticipate, but that question will remain unaddressed for the Time Being.  Perhaps in the near future I will write out a Mission Statement (if not for you, fellow Traveler, at least for me), but that will be left by the trailside for now.

And without any further hesitation, I take my first steps...