Whirligig

Where was the Whirligig that Brent made left in Seattle, Washington?

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The Seattle whirligig is the first whirligig Brent makes. It takes him two days. He makes it at the park where his campsite is. It is derived from the simplest whirligig in his book, of an angel with wings playing a harp. Brent accidentally snaps off a big chunk of the angel's wing, however, and decides that the figure will just be a girl playing a full-size harp. It is painted on its two sides with Lea's face and dark hair, and Lea's name is drawn down an edge. The whole whirligig is varnished when complete. Brent mounts it on a piece of driftwood, and he mounts the driftwood on the almost-horizontal limb of a tree in the waterfront park, in a place where the wind can find it. When the wind blows through it, the figure's arms turn, and it appears to be playing the harp.

The whirligig is seen some time later by an adopted Korean boy who hates having to play the violin and by his mother who pressures him. She uses the whirligig to teach the boy that he must always practice, just like the girl playing the harp. His teacher uses it to teach the boy's mother that everything must rest after it works, for if the whirligig spun all the time it would surely break.

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Whirligig