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