Wow! Leslie ----- > Dear Folks, > > My neighbor Dawn and her dear son Jamie (my buddy) made their short trip > over to my house this evening to make certain that my recycle bin and > trash got put out for garbage collection tomorrow. > > Before they left I wanted them (especially Jamie) to hear what I had been > listening to for the past couple of days on my tape recorder. I wanted > them to hear the sounds of African drums that I had recorded in Suriname, > South America. From the minute I turned on my tape player, both of them > just stood in disbelief. First of all, I explained that I was in Suriname > when I recorded the drums and they had difficulty in believing that not > only did the drums sound like African ones, I had made the recording an > entire continent south of here. I had actually been there! > > One thing that Dawn couldn't believe was the quality of the recording, > especially after I had told her I had recorded it over 30 years ago on a > hand-held second-hand heavy Sony tape recorder hidden underneath my purse > at the time. Later tonight Dawn and I had a conversation over the phone > and she was still in awe over my entire experience. > > In the first place, she and Jamie had continued to have a conversation > about the recording and she impressed upon Jamie that it had been a > "real-time" experience for me, not just a documentary on TV. > > She couldn't quite picture herself in such primitive surroundings. I asked > her how old she is. She told me 45. I told her I was 40 years old when I > had set out on the trip all by myself--not on a commercial tour. She > couldn't quite take that in either. Of course I had to add a bit more > excitement regarding my experience in Suriname by telling her that the > first night I was out on the river, our tour guide left a kerosene lantern > on in our hut until daybreak. I told Dawn it was to ward off the vampire > bats that were numerous in the area. I could almost hear Dawn shudder. > > It pleased me that I could share some of the sounds of Suriname with > someone else. Especially Dawn and Jamie. Up until now, I've been the > only one who has been able to enjoy and appreciate those sounds again. > > vee