In the Chinese calendar, I am a dragon. That is a great honor, because dragons are generally regarded as the most fearsome of the animals. (In the Western star signs, I am a Leo (lion), which is equally fearsome.) In 2000, one of my Chinese friends told me that I was a double dragon, meaning a dragon in a dragon year. Since then, I have used two dragons as my symbol. I have just (September 2008) had a special trumpet built by Blackburn Trumpets of Decatur, Tennessee. It is a stepped-bore design (three separate bore sizes, progressing from small to medium-large to large through the trumpet), and virtually unique in the world. It sounds so "hot" (responsive and bright) that I came to think of it as a fiery dragon. I got these pictures of a fiery dragon and asked Sherry Huntley of Artistic Engraving, Granger, Indiana, to engrave them on the bell of my Dragon Trumpet. She has just completed the job. You can see the spectacular results here and here. Note the beady red eye.
