Paul Lester Photo

I spent a pleasant morning, this morning, walking around Reedy Creek. It was a get reacquainted walk, so to speak. Since I’ve been in Charleston, my tastes, I guess that I could say, have been switching to the beach, or more specifically, water. It’s what’s near, available, and has easy access. All important aspects in getting to know a place.

For whatever reason, probably fatigue, I’ve been resisting going out an photographing on the weekend. I just cannot seem to get out of the bed in the morning, though I want to. This morning, I almost fell into the same trap … I’m still in Charlotte today and will return to Charleston tomorrow. Anyway, I pushed myself to do it, right after sunrise and I’m glad that I did.

One of my favorite trees in Reedy Creek is pictured here. I have no idea what the name of the tree is, but that doesn’t matter. In the winter, while all of the other trees, save for evergreens, drop their leaves, this tree’s leaves turn a nice, pale yellow color, which really stands out when the sun is shining.

It was a pleasant walk. It had just rained the night before, so the pine needles were still wet and there was that pleasant, after-the-rain smell all about. Also, as it had rained, the fair weather patrons weren’t about, so it was nice and quiet, save for the occasional scampering of squirrels and the beautiful voices of the song birds as they belted out their morning tunes.

Bob Wong said:

Paul, I would really be interested to see your reasons for converting from PC to Mac. I have been thinking of doing it for years now but haven’t had the courage.

This is a very good question. I suppose most of us who have switched have had our reasons. However, first, let me address the fear aspect of things. Yes, it is quite possible that some of your old familiar favorites my not be available for Mac. That’s just the way it is; however, there are, in many cases, acceptable alternatives.

It feels good and runs well
I have wanted a Mac for several years; however, each time that I considered buying one, I backed off because I could get an “equivalent” PC for much less. That said, money isn’t everything. There are certain things that Macs offer that you just don’t get with a PC. One of those things is style. Macs are colorful, cool, and just fun to use. They are geared, I think, towards creative people, not spreadsheets. This is my opinion, of course. The are not just ‘another’ computer. You realize this from the moment you look at the outside packaging all the way to the inside. If you own an iPod or any other Apple product, just look at the packaging. The folks in Cupertino know their stuff.

Stable and doesn’t need to be constantly patched
OK. On a more practical note Apple’s operating systems have always, IMHO, been superior in functionality and stability than Windoze. As a developer who’s been around a while, I can tell you that the most stable and secure operating system around is UNIX. Window’s servers cannot hold a candle to them as far as security and ability to run nonstop without needing to be restarted to clear up memory issues, etc. As a matter of fact, we recently had our desktops wiped to remove Windows and replaced it with Red Hat UNIX. It was costing the company too much time and money to keep up with the constant, and I do mean DAILY, security patches for Windows. We were constantly interrupted to upgrade/update our machine with the latest and greatest security this or that. OS X is built on top of UNIX.

Easy to move applications, etc
It was a breath of fresh air to boot my Mac and not have to install Macafee or Norton or any other host of security stuff. Do you ever notice how, after you’ve had your PC for a while, it slows down to a crawl as all manner of stuff gets into your registry from software installs, startup scripts, etc. Pretty soon it is very slow and practically useless. Now, you have to get a new one and hope that you can find all of your installation disks. With the Mac, just copy the application over. Done. No registry blues. (Mind you since OS X is new, this probably won’t work with non-Intel based Macs, but I don’t know.)

It’s just fun
Macs, I think, even though they are serious computers, they are made for people who want to have fun with their computer.

So, in the end it’s about simplifying things, getting something of value for my money, and having fun. When I looked at my usage of my computer, which is primarily for browsing, working on images, and posting to my blog, I just wanted something that I could have for a long time, enjoy using, and not have to worry about getting some virus every time that I downloaded something or opened an e-mail. Simple.

Photography, of course, is my first love. Coming in a close second is harmonica. I’m just now learning to play. Still sounding like a wounded cat, but I find so many sources of inspiration. I listen to blues daily and really love those blues harmonica riffs. However, as I was browsing through YouTube and looking at various harmonica lessons, I came across this video. I’d never heard classical harmonica, but what a beautiful music it is! I just wanted to share it with you, in case you’d never heard it before. Wonderful to my ear.

I think what I like about harmonica music is that it is so expressive! I love the blues because it is, in spite of its name a very happy, uplifting, and humorous music.

Oh yeah, the woman she’s livin’ on a poor man’s pay,
I bought my babe a mink coat,
with fur just to match her hair
When I asked her out for dinner,
she said, “Oh this is just common wear”
I work hard on two jobs,
and I make overtime every day
Oh, you know I got a, I got a rich man’s woman,
but she’s livin’ on a poor man’s pay
–Muddy Waters

I’ve been practicing about 2 hours per evening, most evenings. But, it takes a long time to get it right. I’ve never played a wind instrument before and my lips get tired and get out breath. What an ordeal, but it’s fun when I get the occasional riff right! The hardest part is getting good, clean, single notes. Not easy. Those holes are pretty close together.

Now, having talked about the beauty of the instrument, I also like its ability to get a bit funky. Here’s where I’d like to be with my playing. Listen to that thing sing! :-0

Mine doesn’t sound like that … yet

Anyone else play an instrument? Micki, I know that you play drums! I used to play, but I enjoy this harp more than I ever did the drums! I’ve had the thing for 2 years, but hardly ever picked up. Now that I have all of this time on my hands, I’m finally giving it a try!