A message from the composer

 “As I began to imagine a tune that anyone can drive—from enthusiastic beginner to weekend jammer to virtuoso daredevil—Greg told me about the death of the penny, and I listened to enraged callers on Cross Country Checkup protesting the disappearance of the one-cent coin. (As a resident of Nova Jersia, I was amused when one of them exclaimed, “The Americans would never go for this!”) Anyway, I started dreaming about collections of small, simple things, and I found myself writing a tune that uses only five notes. I was inspired to think that those five notes, like a handful of humble pennies, could join together and arrange themselves to add up to something of worth, like a nickel!—and that a meal of modest ingredients prepared with care could provide more than enough nourishment and pleasure. One of the Cross Country Checkup callers mourned that we may be losing appreciation for little things, and so, thinking of the setting of our Camp, I liked the idea of St. Peter, usually associated with pearls, marveling at an assortment of outdated cents in his palm. Now that it has been deemed worthless, maybe the antiquated penny will become a new-old treasure.”

     – Barbara White