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There is a pathway that leads from my front door, across the front of the house, to where the concrete of the driveway ends in garage doors. It is a path I use everyday, sometimes to check the post, sometimes as the start of a neighborhood stroll, sometimes to get the car out and range further afield. Stepping onto that pathway in the front garden of a small suburban house on the west coast of Australia I step onto the network of roads and pathways that joins every address in Australia to every other address in Australia. I have no need or desire to travel all those roads, yet I am awed by the thought that outside my doorway is the start of the roads to Cape York and Ulhuru (Ayres Rock), Sydney and Brisbane. Most days I choose to stay close to home, limiting my destinations to answer the needs of day to day living, the shopping centre, the post office, the homes of friends. Sometimes I choose to go further afield, perhaps to visit the theatre, perhaps for a picnic in the country, but I am still traveling familiar roads, comfortable in my local knowledge, able to choose my way almost without thought. Longer journeys need more planning, more conscious choices. Which road do I use? Do I want to take the scenic route or save time with the direct route? Will I need to carry food? Where are the fuel stops? Are there any interesting places worth a diversion or a stopover? The list of choices to be made goes on, and making them can be a source of fun. But what of the day I have to make a long journey, to a destination not of my choosing. If my front door leads to every potential address it is also the potential destination of visitors from anywhere, both the good places and the bad. And if they carry a summons which cannot be ignored then it is time to make choices about the things I still can. Just because I have to make a journey doesn't mean that all my choices are gone, and the first choice I must make is to treat this journey like any other. Which road do I use? Do I want to take the scenic route or save time with the direct route? Will I need to carry food? Where are the fuel stops? Are there any interesting places worth a diversion or a stopover? Some of my choices may be restricted, some may not even be available, but if the journey is to be anything but tedious I must find things to do with it other than singing unending verses of "10,000 Green Bottles". See you on the road. Dennis. ++++++++++++++++++++ Dennis Greene 47/10 [log in to unmask] http://members.networx.net.au/~dennisg/ ++++++++++++++++++++