Hiking in Muir Woods with an Ipod

I remember my mother telling me in 1967 about driving down the NJ Turnpike listening to a friend's new 8-track tape machine. She said it turned the dreary surroundings into beautiful meadows with the help of the strains of Beethoven enveloping the car. I thought about Val today when I went for a long hike in these woods and listened to Errol Garner, Bonnie Raitt, and Judy Garland on my new Ipod nano while walking. I had that same sensation when we had to wait more than an hour at Bradley Airport. It didn't matter since I had that music playing, and it encased me in a coccoon of warm music.

Muir Woods was full of magnificent trees and moss and of course, hundreds of other people. I could not hear them chatter, I only heard the clear voices from the device, and it was a satisfying sensation. I didn't even mind that for a moment I thought I might be lost!