The shoreline of wonder Published May 15, 2008 By Lt. Col. Jeffrey L. Neuberger 92nd Air Refueling Wing Chaplan FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. -- One of the more fascinating job titles I've come across lately is "Explorer." If I were to describe "explorer" I might say something like this: an explorer is a person who travels from one place to another, all the while paying particular attention to everything. Explorers are on my mind this week because yesterday marked the 204th anniversary of the "Corps of Discovery," launched by President Thomas Jefferson and led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, the duo famously known simply as "Lewis and Clark." In 1804, President Jefferson purchased 820,000 square miles of land known as the Louisiana Territory for $15 million dollars, a genuinely good deal at .03 cents an acre! He then appropriated through Congress the sum of $2,500 to send an expedition west, led by Lewis and Clark, to map the area and study the flora and fauna of the region. On May 14, 1804, the expedition departed from Illinois with a band of 33 men. They covered a total of approximately 8,000 miles over a period of two years, four months and 10 days, losing only one member of their party, Sergeant Charles Floyd, who died of appendicitis near Omaha, Neb. Volumes have been written concerning the Corps of Discovery, including the journals of Lewis and Clark. A particular quote by Lewis struck me as pertinent to all of life. Describing the territory through which he traveled, he wrote: "As we passed on, it seemed as if those scenes of visionary enchantment would never have an end." Each of us makes our own journey of discovery in life; each of us is an explorer. My exploration of life has had many "scenes of visionary enchantment," for which I am thankful. Like members of the Corps of Discovery I find the journey a bit difficult at times, yet I find the effort is rewarded in countless ways. Life invites exploration at every turn and offers moments of "visionary enchantment." How should we approach our journey through life? Consider this perspective, represented by the words of Ralph W. Sockman who said, "The larger the island of knowledge, the longer the shoreline of wonder." How long is your shoreline of wonder? Take a moment to do some visionary exploring today!