~ Arizona Trail ~ The Emergency Cello Post

Hey don’t be afraid of Big Brother! BE Big Brother! If you have an Iphone or ITouch, you will love the application called “Live Cams”:

http://www.appcraver.com/i-c-livecams/

This  app puts you in the control position of over 1000 hidden mini cams in public places all over the world. You can watch a Tokyo chef preparing sushi, watch people in an internet café in Moscow, zoom in on the bikinis on a beach on Maui. My favorite is just a still focus on a bench in Poland. The truly exciting part is that the people in them do not know they are being creepily stalked via public camera for more than basic security reasons, so they are, of course, behaving naturally. If you catch any interesting moments, you can full zoom in, snap a picture of them, and save it as your Iphone wallpaper if you like. I personally have someone purchasing a textbook at the BYU Bookstore as my wallpaper.

This marvelous manifestation of modern technology is NOT, however, my reason for bringing my IPOD on what would otherwise be a purist wilderness experience. There are more than a few good and very sophisticated reasons:

* I cannot imagine myself bushwacking through the endless miles of terrain where the trail is hidden by overgrowth from fire damage without the assistance of testosterone inspiring industrial techno. Sporting a “Mad Max” persona with full soundtrack will help me chop my way right through there with showmanship and gusto.

* Maybe I don’t want to hear the drunk hunters approaching my tent.

* My Spanish lessons are on there. So even if the journey becomes a Moses-like inspiration of Divine wisdom, I’ll be able to share it in Spanish.

* If my mind should get stuck in an endless loop of hearing “Dancing Queen”  because one of my facebook “friends” posted a snippet of the lyrics as her status update the morning I left, I would like the concrete opportunity to change that loop with a different and more inspiring song.

* Dancing in the woods is one of my favorite all-time activities.

* Most importantly is the effect music has on my mind and mood. I am positive that if I hit moments of sadness or loneliness, there are pieces of music that remind me of the beauty of life and reorganize my mind to perceive what is precious and real. In particular there is an artist by the name of Rufus Cappadocia that has a recording creatively named “Songs For Cello”. It is a collection of live performances of his from all over the world. It has moments in it that are so beautiful that you cannot help but to be moved by them, no matter what the circumstance. It is this I tend to comfort myself with if I am confronted with days and days of rain. This I will use if I run out of water and have to warp myself across 30 miles to the next water source as quickly as possible. This I will use if I have a day when all I can think about is times in my life when my heart was hurting. Because of this, my IPOD is elevated from a “luxury electronic item” to “emergency cello gear” and will sit proudly in my pack.