I'm told there are over 70 million blogs floating around on the Internet. Now there are 70 million and one. Inspired by niece Rebecca's postings (which you might want to check out at www.americanadianlife.blogspot.com/), this is the first of what I hope will be occasional notes of whatever interests me, sent to any friends and family who might be at all interested in these ramblings. Vague enough for you?

I suppose that this whole enterprise is, in a way, a narcissistic exerecise. I'll own that, but any attempt to communicate treads on the same thin ice, and I'm willing to go there. I've never been very good at risking in this whole communication business, anyway, somewhere between "shy" and "arrogant" (INFJ for Myers-Briggs devotees), so what the heck, why not try a blog?"

Just like the sermons I've hammered out over the years, these postings will be written most of all to myself, and I invite you to eavesdrop and even respond. Some of them will be long, some short; some of them will be news of our life here in Wilmington, some of them comments on the world beyond here; some of them will be interesting, some boring. Let's see what happens.