Hi Sherry,

Thank you for your interest. It is fun, after many years of thinking I'd really like to play with that toy, to actually get your hands on it, wind it up and put it through its paces.

This started out as pure experiment, but the intention changed somewhat when the idea flickered across my mind that what I had so far done made a very good impression of a couple of cats I had known, both large, both white, both as friendly as dogs, and both about as cat-graceful as elephants trying to pick their way through the Viking glass outlet store. One of them pulled a chair frame down on his head and spent the last half of his life as a winking kitty; the other could jump up onto a shelf and knock down a glass which was sitting at the BACK of the shelf. But I'm more after a general impression that specifics--the kind of impression of character one gets from looking at a portrait as one concentrates on one feature then another and finally derives an overall sense of the person (or cats, in this case).

BTW, I've decided to get my new whistle on my next visit to the city, where there are a couple of music stores (and it will make filling the gas tank a bit less disgusting).

The "Simple Gifts" piece is a week, maybe two, away from being ready to send. I'm working with volume levels now.

all best,
mgj