When regular contributor Janine Sutphen informed us she would be taking her Palm handheld to fiddle camp this summer, we just had to learn more. In response, she offered this lovely essay describing her time there. While it's not something you'd typically find in PalmPower, we thought it'd be fun to share, nonetheless.

The girl played the cello; the Palm handheld heralded the alarm for meals, classes, and concerts; the computer transcribed the notes from the fiddlers and serenaded the girl in her cabin.

For a week, the quartet faced the heat from the sun during the day, the chill in air at night, the wind driven off the mountains, and the dew from the sky. Together they lay beneath the Aspen trees and watched the leaves dance in the windy sunlight and then stop in stoned silence, motionless.

Each day the girl and the cello greeted the morning with classes where they worked together, making music; in the afternoon they played with the fiddlers accompanying the brisk strains of a jig or waltz; in the evening, as the sun was setting over the mountain tops, they jammed in the soft dusk. The girl took the cello, the computer, and the Palm handheld back to the cabin when evening descended upon the camp. To the soft strains of fiddle music wafting from the computer, the girl put on her dancing skirt and shoes. The evening was still young and more music and dance awaited her. As the stars finally started fading and the moon drifted below the horizon, the girl rejoined her cello, computer, and Palm handheld and slept, but briefly.

And so, the week continued. The quartet faced each day with wonder and excitement and embraced the joy of music and companionship. But, all things must come to an end and so did camp. On a Sunday morning in mid-August the girl, the cello, the computer, and the Palm handheld boarded a plane headed for home. Something had happened between the girl, the cello, the computer, and the handheld--a new bond, a new thread of understanding of each other and the world around them. They each brought back a part of camp, and they each left behind a part of themselves. The girl was filled with tunes and memories--enough to last many months. Good times were had; good friends were made.

And so, with few words written, you may wonder what this has to do with Palm computing. Well, in short, nothing technologically specific, except that every technical writer and software reviewer needs time to replenish his or her soul. This was my time.

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Janine Sutphen (1946-2003) was a Durham, NC-based freelance writer and cellist. Sadly, she was murdered in the early part of 2003. She will be missed.