Many years ago, ancient maps showed the extent of the known world. At the edge of the maps was unknown territory, usually depicted by tempest-tossed seas filled with monsters and dragons. This “habitation of dragons” was considered too dangerous to enter because there was no way to know what you might find out there and there was always the possibility that, once you went beyond the horizon of the familiar, you would never return.
Eventually explorers such as Cortez, Magellan, Balboa and Columbus decided to test the waters. All of them were convinced there were valuable discoveries out where everyone thought the dragons lived and they were willing to do whatever it took to find new lands, bring back their riches, and lead future generations to them.
This is the way it is with all unknowns. First, there are explorers willing to test the waters and see if there really are dragons there and hopefully find never-before-seen riches. Then there are pioneers who follow in the footsteps of the explorers and are the first to settle the new lands. Finally, once the new territory is considered dragon-free, settlers arrive and build cities.
Others have gone before us and explored the things we write about in this book, but we are both on our own voyage of discovery into new territory and want to share with you what we’ve found so far.
We think of this book as kind of an archipelago* of discoveries, with each thought or wondering an “island.” Maybe you don’t want to visit every island and maybe some “islands” of insight and information are more interesting to you than others. Maybe some islands are downright scary to explore. That’s OK.
We invite you to come along with us on our voyage of discovery into unmapped territory. Take the tour of the “islands” we’ve explored and maybe even discover some of your own that we’ve overlooked.
Judy and Ellyn
*archipelago—a sea or stretch of water containing many islands
