A recent e-mail from a reader in South Africa (who wrote to compliment our somewhat artistic attempt at rendering our images in the upper-left corner of the blog site) got me thinking. When I write 'Dear Reader' I have a clear mental image of many of the folks to whom I am writing. Friends, relatives, and cruisers we have met along the way often come to mind.

However, I do know from our e-mail inbox that there are many others out there tuning in on a regular basis. How many and where are they? Well, let's find out.

This is your official invitation to make a mark on our blog. Please send us a quick e-mail telling us who you are and where in the world you live and we'll keep a running tally on the website. Even if you have written in the past, we want to collect the data starting now, so please take a moment to write again. If you haven't written before, it only takes a moment. All you have to tell us is your first name(s) and location (be specific, so we can put you on the map). We promise to keep all e-mail addresses confidential.


Just to start things off, we know that there are at least 2 very regular Readers in our audience, Sheryl's mother and my mother. Therefore, the starting 'dear Reader' tally is: