Music, Memories and Inspiration

I’ve been running in the woods several times a week and my routine involves listening to Pandora Radio on my Blackberry and zoning into the path with an eye out for root humps, mud bogs, tipsy logs and loose dogs. A few weeks ago I was running with my sweet little Piika (A 9lb Chihuahua/Italian Greyhound) and a half wild malamute or husky came at us full blast. Piika ran off yipping hysterically and I screamed at the stunned owner to “Stop your dog!” Thankfully Piika is lightening fast and managed to out run the salivating a canine. (Who could snapped her up in a single bite.)

I run solo now and enjoy listening to music along the way. Sometime I find myself really getting into it; running in time to the beat, singing at full volume, waving my arms about like a total dork… Other times I wander and have elaborate fantasies or role play scenarios in my mind, craft a letter or compose a pitch. The music is the catalyst that inspires the productive thought process.

Since Robert Burnaby Park and neighboring George Derby Endowment lands are massive with trails over several hectares, there are many areas where I am unable to get a strong internet signal. I launch Pandora when I leave the house so that by the time I reach the trails it has sufficiently buffered and runs without stuttering. This morning I forgot to start the program so I began my run in silence.

After a few minutes I checked my bbry storage card and found 64 ‘unknown artist’ listings. I pressed ‘play all’ and a jazz tune by Ben Webster kicked off the set. I instantly thought of my Uncle Harry. I had visited him in Scotland and he was transferring music from old LP’s to MP3 files via a player/recording unit he had purchased on the internet. I had chosen a few clips from his extensive collection and loaded them to my library.

The second song that played was from the Soundtrack for La Vie En Rose. I had gone with Uncle Harry and Aunt Liz on a trip across the ‘Whiskey Trails” in the highlands in their caravan. I can’t remember if we watched the film in the camper… or at Fiona and Keith’s in Skelmorlie. The film presented a fantastic portrayal of Edith Piaf by Oscar winner Marion Cotillard. If you haven’t heard it, it’s a fabulous soundtrack.

The third track to play was from chapter 3 of ‘The Secret’. It spoke about having a destiny to tell great stories so I cut the run short to come home and write this. Just kidding. I ran through about 15 tracks which was well over an hour. Random tracks that triggered a multitude of memories and inspiration.