It is currently September 8, 2017 and I am wrapping up this issue and our November issue. Why so early you say? Many of you contributors and sponsors are REALLY asking this question, since I’ve been giving you fits and pressing you on deadlines. Because on September 15, I am flying to Barcelona, and then taking a train to Leon, Spain, where I will walk 200 miles of the Camino of Santiago de Compostela, a 500-mile pilgrim- age route in northwestern Spain traveled by thousands and thou- sands of pilgrims for over 1,000 years – all making our way to the Cathedral of Santiago, where the remains of St. James the Great are enshrined (Never heard of it? Watch “The Way” with Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez. It’s on Amazon Prime). Carrying all I need in a 15-lb. backpack, the next month promises to be a life- changing experience. I’ll be back in Albuquerque October 16, just about the time you’ll be receiv- ing this magazine – and just in time to jump into compiling our December issue. The crunch is to be sure all the issues are ready to be designed, produced and printed before I leave. With only one week to go, honestly, it’s hard to think of any- thing else. I hope to see beautiful examples of tile and stone along the way and will share those with you on my return. But I DO have to think of other things (for the next week at least), so let me draw your atten- tion to some of the features in this issue. We have our annual Women in Tile installment in October, in which we talk with mosaicist Angie Halford, and designer/ installer Chanel Carrizosa about their journeys through the tile industry. We also have a couple of social media-derived stories: Decorative Tile and Hot Topics. The Facebook tile groups are great founts of opinion and encouragement and catalogs of beautiful jobs as well as failures. I love the support and encour- agement I see being offered from EDITOR’S LETTER Lesley A. Goddin “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” – Confucius 12 TileLetter | October 2017