I’ve joined the ranks of Native American flute players, with my purchase of a High Spirits “Golden Eagle” flute in F# (cedar, with turquoise inlay), after a rather synchronistic series of events. On my way home from a particularly moving Reiki session with Eileen Wurst, I decided to stop by East West Bookshop to look for the Kamal Whale Reiki Song CD that was playing in the background during the session. As I searched for the CD, I came across Emergence by R. Carlos Nakai, which reminded me of Joel Kagan (and Joel’s passion for Native American flutes), whose mentorship during my time on the Computer Science faculty at the University of Hartford had emerged during the Reiki session a short time earlier. As I waited in line to pay for the CDs, I glanced over to the glass display case near the door — that I had never noticed before — and saw a display of flutes; I bought one, on impulse, and have been playing regularly ever since … hoping to capture the playful spirit of Kokopelli.