This weekend was the annual Stone Mountain Highland Games and I was there both days. Yesterday Thomas went with me and we had a grand time. We watched lots of pipe band performances and heavy athletics competitions. Thomas was so moved watching large men throwing telephone poles for the Caber Toss that he wanted to partake in the children’s games. He got to heave a large rock, toss a mini-caber, and heave a heavy weight on a chain. He loved it!

Around 3:30 pm he decided he wanted to take the cable car to the top of the rock, but the parking lot around the lift was so full that they had cut off access. I said we’d try again another day, to which Thomas replied that he’d like to walk to the top. I said ‘ok’ and we headed for the trailhead. The trail is something less than a mile each direction, mostly up, of course, on the way up. I didn’t think he would make it, but he did!!! We made it up in a little over an hour. Of course we had lots of little rest stops along the way, both up and down, but we made it. We hung out at the top and watched the cable cars go up and down for a while and then headed back down. When we reached the bottom he looked up at me and said “Let’s go up again!!” We didn’t.

I went back out alone today so I could visit the shops and spend more time listening to the pipe bands. I ended up buying two new whistles, a Feadog brass D and an Oak in C. I have two other D whistles, but they each have their own quirks and problems. The C whistle I have, a Clark has never really sounded great and is way too breathy. These two new whistles sound really nice. But what sounded the best was the Sweetheart D, which is a wooden whistle. O my. This thing has one of the most clean, crisp, sublime tones I’ve ever heard. The $145 price tag prohibited me from getting it today, but perhaps I’ll snag it for Christmas…