Our lives have always been symbolically associated with all the words of structure, the "Family" being the biggest and most important, but we can live in a box, outside the envelope, hidden in a cave, house bound, afflicted with "cabin fever" or afraid to look right outside our window blinds.

I really dig the concept of life being a circle, from the beginning to the end and then it begins again as something else, but I never could dig the path of life my parents wished me to follow, it was theirs and their parents and I was to continue that path and I did not like that idea one bit. The problem was that I am a wanderer, like a few folks in every family are, we just can't stay home, we must wander and explore.

For a while it was quite a struggle to pull away and go off, people just kept reminding us that we were "too far, when ya comin' home?", and we just stopped answering them. As far as we were concerned home was where we are.

My sister and I have been working on family history together for many years now and we talked about the wanderers recently and counted them and found out that they were not a small bunch of drifters, oddities who could not sit tight with the rest of the brood. We found out that the wanderers where the larger number of family members. I am following family practices much much older than the last few generations that came before me.

All the best things in my life were found off the beaten path. I was expected at a wedding and went to a concert instead and met my wife. I was expected to stay in the city and teach and retire and stay in the city and we left and found our country life.

The one big lesson any wanderer must learn is to not have expectations, they will burn you later on.

Just dance down each pathway, keep your eyes open for the possibilities, enjoy every view and watch your steps and avoid the straight and narrow.