Darn it, Gerard. I like working, I like going to work every day and working will all my good friends and getting stuff done. I could do it every day until I croak.

And then I read your poems, and I say to myself, what the f-all am I doing? The thought of going to Europe fills me with dread. The Aegean is probably like it was in the days of the Sea Peoples and the Persian invasions combined. Where's the Pax Romanum when there are pirates to be brutalized? All of Asia Minor and the Levant are on the move. And any sissy coddled Anglo fool enough to come looking, just looks like prey to all of them.

But the idea of really sailing the Aegean and Tyrrhenian, from port to port, Sparta to Anatolia and back and around to Dubrovnik, sure sounds as if its on the short list of things to be done.

Personally, I prefer poems written on paper. (You're right, I'm a clod. Never been able to appreciate poetry. Tried, but just couldn't.)

Wonderful.